Fourteen Days
by Thoughts Of A Shadow
Summary: Train thought that he was at an understanding with the Chronos Numbers. Apparently not, since he, along with Sven and Eve, hade been captured with no escape in sight. It's day fourteen, and they're still trapped with no sign of a savior...
1. Loosing

**A/N. And here I come with another fanfiction! This one will be a multi chapter, but I will need reviews to keep going! **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't know who owns Black Cat, I just know I don't. **

"Hey Princess! Why are you moving so fast? We have plenty of money!" The call came from a spiky, brown haired man walking alongside an older man who wore a hat to cover up green hair. A small bell jingled on a red ribbon tied around the first man's throat as he smiled wide, revealing pointed white teeth. The teeth of a cat.

"Because I am hungry." Came the simple reply. The blonde who had responded turned slightly, long hair swinging as she twisted to see the ex-assassin frozen in the middle of the street, mouth hanging down so that it almost met the XIII branded on his chest.

"That's my line" he shouted, and Sven patted his partner's shoulder.

"Easy there Train. We're all hungry, and I'm almost out of smokes. We all just need to cool down." Train grumbled about being hungry enough to eat an elephant before following the older sweeper that had moved forward to catch up with Eve. Black booted feet didn't make a sound as they pounded down on bricks as he raced to pull up with his family.

Fifteen minutes later, they stood in front of a small restaurant that boasted an all you can eat buffet. After leading Eve to a table, they left her to her book before aiming over to the bounty posters.

"Let's see…50,000…35,000…70,000…Ooh Sven, look at that one! 700,000!" Hades clacked in its holster as Train shouted, shaking Sven's arm enthusiastically. Sven scanned the wall until he saw the new-looking poster Train was rambling about.

"Hmmm, Dominic Connor…wanted for the murder of seventeen people…no known location…..This shouldn't be hard." The green haired sweeper snatched down the poster, examining the red haired, dark eyes, huge muscled man that stared out of the picture. Train stayed at the table long enough to order a large glass of milk before bee lining it for the buffet table. Sven glanced at the hungered man before turning back to Eve. Handing her the bounty paper, he turned to the waitress and ordered a coffee.

"This man…he looks familiar. I do not remember where, but…" Sven glanced at the picture before shrugging unconcerned.

"Maybe he was in the paper or something, I don't know." He stopped talking when Train returned; carrying a plate that looked like it should at least weigh ten pounds. The thin man was nearly hidden behind the huge mound of crab legs that covered his amber eyes. Said eyes sparked with energy as he attacked the plate like a man who hadn't eaten in three days…well, that might have been because they _hadn't_ eaten in three days but still. Sven continued his conversation with Eve about where she could have seen the man, but the blonde was continually shaking her head.

The tinkling of a bell drew the pair's attention to the door (Train was still eating) where they saw a man who had red hair slicked back into a long ponytail underneath a large brown cowboy hat. His black boots clicked on the floor as did the dual pistol holster slug around his waist. Sven noticed that Eve had stiffened and was examining the man. Sven noticed that Eve had stiffened and was examining the man, but figured that she was just being curious. Train had glanced up and then focused again on his food, although something about that man unsettled him. He pushed the thought away as he took another gulp of milk.

Said gulp was spilled over his lap when Princess jumped to her feet, knocking into Train's elbow and in extension, his milk glass.

"Whoa there, lil' Princess. What's up?" the amber eyed ex-assassin dabbed at the front of his jacket with the paper napkin that was planed next to the silverware that he had skillfully neglected to avoid. Her next words froze him solid.

"That man…he is from the bounty!" Without a word, she took off after the red-haired man. But somehow, the cowboy had known Eve would come after him and was out the door before Eve had started running. Sven merely stared after the blonde haired girl, figuring that she could handle herself. Train; on the other hand was still frozen, mind going as fast as it could, processing all of the little things that added up to one big thing. 700,000 for only seventeen murders…how new the paper looked…how the man had continued watching their table the whole entire meal…

The brown haired sweeper gasped as he leapt to his feet, knocking into the table and sending the dishes rattling. Streaking off after Eve, the Black Cat didn't give Sven the chance to question him. Bright sunlight hit him as he burst out the door, and he blinked it away, struggling to follow the long blonde hair that was trailing behind Princess. Drawing Hades, Train ran forward, calling out to Eve as he did.

"Little Princess, no! It's a-"Train lost sight of the blonde as she cut down an alley and he streaked after her, only to skid to a halt when he found her trapped in the grasp on the red haired man with a knife to her throat.

_Trap._

"Take another step Black Cat, and it'll be the biggest mistake of your life." Train froze, Hades aimed at the man holding Eve.

"I could shoot you, grab Eve and be gone before you had the time to blink." Came the cold, confident reply. Golden eyes watched as the man shook his head, chuckling slightly.

"Oh, I don't believe you could Heartnet. Because you see, my clothes are made of orichalcum. Because I am…" At this, the red haired man raised a hand to his face, and grabbed the skin at the hairline.

"Number 10? What are you doing? I'm cleared with the numbers!" Train shouted, adjusting his gun so that it was aimed right between the now black haired man.

"Obviously not. You see, Numbers IV and VIII are both eager to meet up with you again."

Train shook with anger at the mention of the two Numbers that were crazed with killing.

"Why did you tag along? I thought we were…ok..." Train trailed off, listening carefully; until he heard a door swing off in the distance.

"Well, they told me it was a mission from Number I, so I had to come. Besides, I wouldn't mind seeing how you plan to deal with this." Train snarled, and lunged forward, only to stiffen as he heard a low, mechanic whine.

"Wha-?" he started, but all of a sudden, the word turned into a scream of pain as 5,000 volts of electricity shot through his lithe frame. Eve watched with tears in her eyes as the man she considered her older brother fell to the ground, hunched in on himself as he tried to figure out where the pain was coming from.

The sound of loud footsteps broke her gaze, and she looked up to see Sven running up the alley. She squeaked, and Train must have heard, because he managed to raise his shaggy head and crack open pained amber eyes to warn the green haired sweeper.

"Sven, stay-!" His weak warning was halted as the pain increased, and he cried out, eyes snapping closed in an effort to block out the agony. Sven stopped suddenly, looking from the hunched form of Train to the scared position of Eve to the curious expression on Xiao's face.

"What have you done?" He roared, stepping forward menacingly as he raised his attaché case. The black haired Number glanced up at him before staring back down at Train.

"Why, I was ordered to catch a cat, but I needed a little bird as bait. The little bio-weapon here worked perfectly. Ooh! Look!" he said, and his eyes lit up, smiling as he watched Train. Sven looked down to see that Train had gone limp, and was lying lifelessly on the dirty brick ground.

"Train!" He shouted, bending down to shake the other man, only to recoil at the shock he got.

"What did you do?" He yelled, rounding on the Number. Xiao looked at him appraisingly before glancing at one of the man he had stationed on his right.

"Cut the electricity." The man nodded, ignoring the way Sven's mouth dropped to the ground.

"You were _electrocuting _him? Why?" Xiao chuckled again.

"How else am I supposed to catch a cat that can dodge every bullet I throw at him? But enough of that, now we need to move him. Try anything, and I'll have to kill the little girl. You're gonna take him to the black van that's parked a few blocks away, and then you're going toput him in the trunk. After that, you climb in the front seat next tomy man. I'll get in the back seat with the little bio-weapon. Is that clear?" Sven was about to protest to bringing Eve, but when he saw the guns aimed at himself and Train he realized that it was hopeless. He nodded, shooting Eve an apologetic glance that she never acknowledged because she was too busy looking at Train's limp form.

"Fine." Xiao gestured with his knife at the ex-assassin. Understanding the motion, Sven bent down and picked up the horrifyingly limp body of his friend. Train groaned as his head lolled over Sven's arm before falling silent. The little bell tied to his neck jingled as Sven stood up, well aware of the guns still pointed at him. Catching Eve's eye, he nodded encouragingly before Xiao pushed her forward. Another man led the way out of the alley and down the street.

Glancing down, Sven was given a slight shock of surprise when he saw that Hades was still in its holster. How had Train managed to keep it? He winced again as Train groaned, realizing that he had been jostling the limp form whenever he moved. He made more of an effort to keep his arms stationary so that the golden eyed man wouldn't be needlessly moved. The older sweeper sighed as he glanced back at Eve, noting the way she walked with her head bent.

"What have you gotten us into Train?" The still form of the Black Cat didn't give an answer.

**A/N. Sorry if X was OOC but I haven't really paid much attention to his character. Tell me if you like it!**

**Thx-**

**TOAS**


	2. Arriving

**A/N. I'm back with another chapter, if that's ok with you guys. If it's not, I'll just have to delete this story…so I'll need you to review and tell me to keep it if you want me to after reading this chapter…**

***cue clichéd horror movie music***

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black Cat. Never have, never will…sadly…**

Sven walked carefully to the trunk of a large black Hummer that was parked two blocks away from where the trap had been set up. The goon in front of him swung open the trunk and stepped away. _At least they had a carpeted trunk_, Sven thought as he lowered his partner into the car, wincing as the brunette's head thudded on the floor. This only elicited a weak moan as Train twisted slightly so that he wasn't lying on his gun. His hair hung into his face, billowing slightly when a sharp wind came from the trunk slamming closed. Eve watched as tinted glass hid Train from her sight and she was lead towards the back seat by her black haired kidnapper. Sven smiled at her as he was prodded towards the passenger's seat, but she lost sight of him as well when she was forced into the seat behind him.

Number X slid in next to her and tapped his man on the shoulder. At the signal, he started the car and they left the city behind in a matter of minutes.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Number Four asked me to put this on you. Please don't struggle miss, I'd really hate to have to injure you." Sven whipped his head around to see the assassin pull out a metallic looking collar and clip it around Eve's neck. She tried to twist her head down enough to see it, but couldn't.

"What is _that_?" Sven asked, staring at the flashing green light right under the blonde's ear.

"A nanomachine inhibiting device. It'll keep her from transforming. Little lady, I suggest you don't try-you'll get a nasty shock." The black haired Number warned, turning to stare blankly out the window. Figuring that it would be best to remain silent, Sven turned forward too, glancing at the man driving the car who seemed to be made out of rock. The intimidation level had been kicked up several notches.

Trees flashed by as Eve looked out the window. They'd traveled far away from the city-and help. She frowned as she placed her chin in the palm of her hand, watching as even more forest passed her. A little beeping noise came from right below her ear, and she jumped a little. The Chronos number looked over at her.

"Are you using any nanomachines?" he queried, and Eve shook her head. Xiao Li cocked his head as he looked at her curiously before a groan from behind drew his attention. Eve glanced back too and saw that Train was moving, his eye brows drawing together in confusion as he tried to twist around on all fours.

"Ahh, we can't have you waking up yet Thirteen. I have a bracelet here that should help." Eve watched as the man drew another device. This one looked like a metal, extended fingerless glove, and had several lights blinking around. The blonde glanced down at Train in time to see him blink open his golden eyes and look at her before Xiao Li twisted in his seat and grabbed Train's left arm. Having just gotten his balance, Train toppled to the floor at the sudden loss of limb. He gazed blearily up at the Number, a confusion on his face.

"Wha-?" he started, but was distracted as he watched his captor slide the odd contraption around his wrist and up his arm before snapping it closed. His arm was then released, and quickly drawn back to its owner. Eve looked over at Xiao Li curiously.

"What have you put on Train?" she asked in a monotone, face completely blank.

"It's a mix of things. But it's main purpose it locating, as well as…" he trailed off and Eve noticed that Train was staring at the back of his head as he sat up. Xiao Li sighed.

"I _am _sorry for this, Black Cat. But orders are orders." Train glared at him, a question on his lips as he tried to figure out what was going on. Xiao Li glanced at him apologetically before he pulled what looked like a remote from his pocket and pressed a big red button near the top. Pained screams filled the car as Train dropped to the ground, writhing in agony.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" Eve shouted, smacking the Number. Xiao Li backed away as the blonde leapt over the seat, landing delicately in the trunk as she tried to help Train.

"What are you doing?" Sven shouted, leaning towards the assassin so that he could punch him across the face. A faint sound of someone crying came from the back of the car as Eve knelt next to Train.

"Well, I can't have him waking up yet. So this should stop him." An enraged yell came from the trunk, and Sven watched as a flurry of blonde leapt at the Number, biting and clawing at him.

"Eve calm down! Don't kill him!" Sven's warnings were cut short as Eve screamed. She dropped across the seat like a rag doll, flailing arm knocking the remote out of Xiao's hand.

"What are you doing?" Sven screamed, and he lunged forward to sucker punch the man. His belt caught him, jerking him back. The number shrugged.

"Nothing. She tried to use her nanomachines. The device stoopped them." He said simply. Sven leered at the man disbelievingly.

"You…you jerk." Came a shaking voice from the back, and Xiao Li's head surged forward to reveal Train leaning heavily against the seat.

"Train!" Eve lifted herself from the seat, only to tumble forwards and land upside down on the floor. Said sweeper panted as he struggled to hold him head up.

"I am sorry Train, but you need to stay asleep. Nighty-night!" Xiao Li activated the glove again, and Train slid to the floor again, moaning so long that Xiao Li looked at him incredulously.

"You shouldn't still be up. Sorry about this." Sven shouted in protest as the number raised the voltage. Thankfully, it only took moments for Train to slump to the floor again. Eve leaned over the side to stare at Train, who was sprawled on the floor, knees bent, one arm strewn across his abdomen and the other stretched out to the opposite side of the car. His breathing was labored and his brows were furrowed in pain. Eve stared down mournfully before turning back to glare at the number.

"I hate you and I will destroy you." Sven flinched at the icy cold tone Eve's voice contained. He could tell the girl meant every word she said. Xiao Li must have had guts, because he smiled down at her before turning away.

The car filled with silence as they traveled farther and farther away from civilization and closer and closer to their doom. Forest gave way to prairie and then faded back into forest. The road got darker and darker as the sun began to drop, and Eve started to doze off, head drooping every once in a while before she would jerk it up and blink a few times. She'd glanced behind at Train, frown, and turn to look out the window, where the whole process started over again. Sven stayed slumped against the window, staring lazily out the black tinted glass at the passing trees.

Both captives jumped when the car stopped suddenly, and Eve stared intently out the window at a large wrought iron gate that was positioned next to a guard house. A few men came out and knocked on the window. The driver rolled it down and nodded to the guard. Another nod and a gesture resulted in the gate sliding open and the car starting forward, where it traveled up a gravel drive to stop in front of a mansion.

And it was a mansion. Sprawling across the grounds, it was at least a thousand yards long and four stories high. Towers stretched high above the triangular main building, and the ivy creeping along the grey stone made it look even more gothic. The mortar that surrounded the dusty windows looked old and cracked, but sturdy. The car kept going until it stopped right in front of two large wooden and intricately carved double doors.

The driver got out first, and walked around the hood of the car to knock on the large doors before coming back and opening Sven's door, gesturing for the green haired sweeper to get out. He did, joints protesting at the sudden movement after hours of immobility. Another car door opened at the same time as the large wooden doors, and Xiao Li emerged first, followed by Eve. One more heavily muscled man came out from the house and moved to the trunk, which he opened. A brown haired body was slung carelessly over his shoulder, and Eve glared murderously at the way they treated Train before she was shoved inside.

The inside of the mansion was just as impressive as the outside. Arching pillars held the ceiling twenty feet off the ground and framed a sweeping stair case that lead to the next floor. Tapestries hung from the stone walls that accompanied the pillars, and a plush red carpet lined the floor. A few odd trinkets sat on pedestals that regularly protruded from the wall. Eve eyed them with interest, noting how expensive they must have been.

The thoughts were ruined by a low groan from the man in front of her. Or, the man slung over the shoulder of the man in front of her. She tried to move forward towards Train, but Xiao Li held her back, glancing at her warningly. Eve sighed and fell back into step with the assassin.

The beautiful decorations of the building slowly stopped coming, until the only thing they were passing were empty windows and blank stone walls. A heavy wooden door loomed at the end of the corridor, and a spare man ran forward to open it, waiting until the whole parade of captors and captives passed through till closing the door. The ominous clanging sound seemed to seal their fate.

**A/N. Was that enough to satisfy you guys until my next chapter? I have the next one in my mind, it'll just take a little bit to write it down. ****T****hx-**

**TOAS**


	3. Loathing

**A/N. Well, this story was very well accepted, so I have another chapter for you guys! Please review and tell me what you think.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black Cat.**

Black clothed men were situated at intervals around the large stone room, heavy caliber guns held threateningly in their arms. On stepped forward a little when the group entered.

"Calm down boys, no need to scare our guests," Xiao Li said, glaring reproachfully at the jittery man. Sven glared around at all of them, taking a step closer to Eve, who had sidled up behind him. He remembered what he told her before they fought the Apostles of the Star: _If you get hurt, or even scared, don't think twice, just run._ Oh, how badly he wished she could run right now.

Eve was also remembering Sven's advice, but she was thinking the opposite-she'd never run away. She would always stay with her family. She glanced over at Train, noting the way his head lolled uncontrollably across the back of some heavily muscled hired thug. He didn't even look unconscious-no bruises, no blood. The only thing that gave it away was the slightly singed smell his clothes gave off. Her thoughts were stopped when she heard the Number start talking again.

"Put them in there." He ordered, gesturing to a large cell made of stone. The whole front side was made of iron bars with a door off to the right. It was unlocked by the man carrying Train, and he motioned for Sven and Eve to go in first. They complied, and turned around just as Train was thrown in after them, body slamming limply to the floor and staying there. The door clanged shut behind them, and the guard stationed himself directly in front of the door.

Eyeing the guard warily, Eve inched forward and hooked her arms under Train's. Sven came forward and helped the blonde drag Train backwards until he was propped against the wall. He groaned a little, and subconsciously slid sideways to land on Eve. She jerked a little, trying to push the dead weight away from her.

"Sven, a little help here?" she asked, gesturing to Train. Sven looked over and smirked.

"Aren't you comfortable Eve?" he jested, but helped lift Train off of Eve and onto the floor.

"There." They both sat back.

Hours passed, and the two friends stopped being tense and started thinking about why they had been taken.

"Sven…" The owner of the name jumped a little, and turned to see Eve staring blankly out the door with a few tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, Eve?" he asked, sliding a little closer. She didn't turn her head.

"What do you think is going to happen to us?" she asked softly, voice wavering slightly. She sniffed a little, and then looked up at Sven. "Are we gonna die?" Sven shook his head, the whole time wondering if what she said was possible.

"No, I'm not gonna let either of us die. And when Train wakes up, he's gonna help take care of you, ok?" Eve shook her head.

"No-I don't wanna be taken care of. I wanna help take care of you guys, but…Sven, how do we get out?" she asked, staring up at Sven with bright eyes. He sighed, before looking out at the bleak room in front of them.

"I don't know, Eve. I don't know." He slid an arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight.

Sounds of feet descending the stairs and a few shouts broke the moment, and Sven looked out the door to see two men dressed in all black pushing through the group of guards.

Gold glinted off an odd helmet on one, the Roman Numerals IV branded where his left eye would have been. His partner stood a little bit taller than him, black hair slicked back and his small goatee brushed straight out. A large, gleaming black metal ball was half coated in gold and had the number VIII branded on it. A chain hung down from his hand and then traveled back up to connect with a handle clasped in his other hand. The duo approached the cell and stared in, eyes roaming over Sven to look at Eve, and then lighting on Train.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the black cat. As well as his scrappy owners. You did a good job Ten." The black haired assassin congratulated, smiling at Xiao Li. He bowed.

"I hope Sephiria will be pleased." He said, and a smirk lit upon VIII's face.

"Oh, she will. She will." With that, Xiao Li took his leave and scaled the stairs silently, leaving the captives to their fate. IV wandered over to a wooden table propped against the wall and fingered a small remote.

"Time to wake up the slumbering cat, wouldn't you say, Eight?" he asked, and the assassin laughed.

"You do the honors," he said, and the helmeted Number grabbed the remote and walked back over to the cell.

"Wakey wakey kitty cat!" he crooned tauntingly, and he jabbed his thumb down on the button. It took a few seconds, but screams echoed around the cell as Train's 'glove' shocked the daylights out of him. He curled in on himself, clawing at the offending glove until the Number stopped the torture. He laid on the ground, panting as he clutched his arm.

"Hello Black Cat. Long time, no see! How ya feeling?" Eight crowed as he unlocked the door and sauntered inside, closely followed by Four. Bending down, he grabbed Train by the hair and pulled, yanking the sweeper's head up to face him.

"I asked you a question. You'd better answer me, or else…" he looked over at his partner pointedly, and the helmeted assassin pressed the button again. Train's body jerked as he tried to jiggle away from the death grip on his hair accompanied by the electricity coursing through him. This only resulted in another yank, making him whimper before stilling.

"So, how ya feelin?" he asked again, and Train glared at the man.

"Just peachy." He replied scathingly, and the Number laughed.

"You sure got guts, kid," he said, and he pushed Train into the wall. A sickening thud came as he was hurled away, and Train looked down to see his elbow twisted horribly out of place. Eight laughed again.

"What do you want?" Four turned in the direction of the voice, a scratchy one at that, and smiled.

"Well, Train messed up several of our missions, so Chronos needs to repay the favor." He said, and Sven looked confused.

"Which ones?" Eve tugged his shirt to make him sit back down, but he wouldn't listen, eyes flashing from the slumped form of Train to the freak with the helmet.

"Well, Sepheria told be about the two he messed up. And then, there was the one when he tried to protect that fire freak when he was a kid." A grunting sound from the corned drew everyone's attention, and they looked over to see Train standing pressed against the wall.

"We cleared Kyoko with Sepheria. She's safe, you shouldn't have attacked her," Train muttered. Eight glared at him before slamming a fist into his ribs. An ominous cracking sound accompanied the fist, and Train dropped to the floor, grunting in pain. This elicited a yell from Sven.

"What's wrong with you? Why'd you do that?" Eight glared at him, no longer the taunting captor and now the cold hearted assassin.

"Don't…don't bother Sven. He's a psycho." Train muttered, giving the assassin a cocky grin.

"You little brat!" shouted Four, and he slugged Train across the face before kneeing him in the chest. Train groaned again and dropped once more to the floor.

"Calm down Four. Why don't we put him against the big guy?" he suggested, and Four smiled.

"What a great idea. You grab one arm." The two assassins grabbed either of Train's arms and dragged him out of the cell and into the middle of the room. Sven and Eve looked at each other before scooting forward and pressing themselves against the bars. Train was dumped in the middle of the floor as one of the thugs opened a door. Sven craned his neck to see who would come through, only to jerk back when the door opened to reveal…

Gyanza.

"WHAT?"

**A/N. Ok, so I will be resurrecting a few dead people and getting some 'good' people to turn bad for a few hours. When I bring up the people, just give me a few chapters to explain how they stayed alive…mainly because I need ot figure out how, but you'll know when I know, k? Review!**

**Thx-**

**TOAS**


	4. Fighting

**A/N. This was met with loads of likes, so I'm gonna update it now. Expect the next chapter in a couple of days- a week at the most. Review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black Cat…just rub it in my face, why don't you! *Runs off while waving at the chapter***

Sven glared at the man who strode in and looked around the room. The man's afro bounced back and forth until his eyes lit on Train.

"I'm supposed to fight this punk? It won't be a ten second fight!" he said, and he laughed, head thrown back as his chortles echoes around the room.

"What the heck are you doing here? How are you still alive?" Gyanza froze, and slowly turned to look at the green haired sweeper who was shouting at him. Blonde distracted the Tao user for a few moments, but then he turned back to his mortal enemy.

"Sven Vollfied. It's been a while since we met." He turned to look at the two numbers holding Train up. "You sure I can't fight him? I'd like a challenge." He said. Four shook his head.

"Nope. Sephiria says you are to fight Heartnet and Heartnet only. Now, get to it." He said, and the large man shrugged, stretching his neck and cracking his knuckles.

"Woulda love to fight you, old boy. Maybe we'll meet later. After all, you know where I live now." He said, before turning back to Train. The Numbers let go of the sweeper, leaving him to stand on his own two feet, which he managed well. He swayed a little, but drew his gun steadily.

"You mean you live here? With the Numbers? What did you do, join them?" Even Train was getting annoyed with Sven's continuous outbursts. Apparently, Gyanza was annoyed too.

"Look Vollfied, I never died, I joined the Numbers, and I'm gonna beat the crap out of your partner now. Don't interrupt again." Sven glared daggers at the man, but stayed silent. It might have helped that one of the guards was subtly pointing a gun at Train's back and then glancing between the muzzle and Sven, but that was unimportant.

"Now then, I'm told you're the Black Cat? More like a stray cat on the bad end of an alley fight. I'm gonna make you look worse!" Gyanza taunted, and with that, he lunged at Train. The sweeper quickly put his gun up as a shield and then ducked the blind jab. Another fist came in an upper cut, and Train leaped back. Gyanza swung around to kick out at Train's jaw, only to barely clip his right shoulder. However, it did the trick, swinging Train around so that the criminal could jam an elbow into his back. Train flew to the floor and then used his momentum to roll to the side, avoiding having his arm stomped on by a heavy boot.

Jumping to his feet, the sweeper jumped for the man and clamped his hands across Gyanza's ears, effectively discombobulating the man. One of his flailing arms smashed into Train's gun arm, sending Hades flaying across the room. One of the guards had to duck the sailing weapons. Red burn marks appeared on Train's hand as he tried to grasp the thin rope attached to the edge of his gun. He hissed as red droplets appeared on his hands, but strengthened his grip, only to almost loose it when Gyanza slammed a fist in the back of his head. His face met the floor once again as he was dropped. Groaning, he rolled a little too slowly and had his wrist stomped on.

His cry mingled with a sickening snapping sound, and he cradled his right hand with his left. Sven shouted out, and he looked over to see Eve peering out with tears in his eyes. He couldn't get hurt any more. If not for his well being, then for his family. He looked up at Gyanza, taking in the dilated eyes and the heavy breathing. His hands were shaking slightly, and his gaze flickered all over.

The man was either high, or drunk. Either way, the next few moves would prove effective. He staggered to his feet, and then waved his right hand to distract the murdered (_ha! What a hypocrite he was)_ while at the same time, snapping his left wrist so that his gun jerked forward and smacked Gyanza in the back of his head. A faint cry of pain sounded from the man as he reached behind his head for the gun, which was safely back in its holster. Taking advantage of the man's confusion, Train lunged forward and slammed his uninjured fist into the man's liver, ducking when he immediately bended over in pain. The sweeper ducked even lower and grabbed the murder's right knee, taking it between both of his hands and hyper extending it. He hid a wince of pain as his own wrist cried out at the abuse it was taking before Train backed away as the man fell to the ground. Train gave Gyanza a swift kick to the head which effectively knocked the man out before stumbling away.

"There, I beat him. Who's next?" he growled savagely, holding his wrist close to his side like an injured wolf. Number Eight laughed long and hard, making Train back away as the assassin neared.

"Oh, don't be like that Heartnet. We're all comrades here. But that's all the fighting you'll be doing today. I'm gonna let you stew for the night, and then I'll be back tomorrow with breakfast, ok?" With that, the two assassins, as well as the majority of the guards exited, leaving one to drag Gyanza away, and two more to guard the prisoners.

When a blocky one with a military hair cut moved forward to drag Train back into the cage, the sweeper danced away.

"No thanks Major General." The cat warned, and 'Major General', as Train had dubbed the man, glared at the sweeper, before turning to unlock the door and standing back. Train edged around the wall and then shot inside the cage, brushing back his friends and into the corner. The door clanged shut behind him and Train waited until he heard the man walk away before looking up. Sven and Eve were shuffling over to him while keeping an eye on the guards.

Train hissed as he ripped away the bottom part of his shirt and started adjusting his wrist. Small hands grabbed his, and gently moved them away. He looked up to see Eve looking down at his swollen wrist.

"You're going to make it worse the way you're treating it." She said, and she started setting his wrist, trying to ignore the small winces of pain Train gave off every few seconds. She held her hand out for their makeshift bandage and Train dropped it in her hands. Silence was only broken by small groans from Train as Eve wrapped his wrists. With a final knot she dropped his wrist, allowing him to bring it close to his chest.

"Anything else?" He shook his head and they all settled down in the corner.

"So…Gyanza's back." Train muttered, and Sven chuckled darkly.

"I guess so. Could have sworn he died." Train shook his head.

"Psychotic jerks have a habit of not dying when you want them to." The brown haired sweeper put in, and he adjusted his position in the corner, leaning his head back to rest against the wall. Sven glanced at the bruise decorating his cheek and frowned.

"Are you sure you didn't get hit anywhere else?" Train shrugged, and then blinked open an amber eyes.

"Well…he did hit me pretty hard…in the head." Train mumbled, "Doesn't hurt much…" He clarified, and then closed his eyes again.

"Train, stay awake ok? You might have a concussion. Just let Eve look at the back of your head, ok?" Train groaned, but complied, letting his head loll forward. Eve silently pushed Train's hair away, feeling around the back of his head until she felt a small bump.

'It is not a big one. We should wake him up every three hours." Eve clarified, and she pushed Train's head back against the wall.

Soon, the man was snoring softly and both friends relaxed as much as one could in a cell.

"I wonder what Chronos wants with Train. I was under the impression that Sephiria was fine with Train leaving." Eve said, and Sven shrugged.

"I did too. But maybe she was acting…? He suggested half-heartedly. Eve sighed, and blinked slowly, yawning. Sven smiled.

"I'll take first watch. You can go to sleep." Eve nodded sleepily, and within minutes was curled up next to Train. Sven smiled at the happy sight before frowning at the bleak one everywhere else.

With dead men rising and assassin's going back on sworn promises, this was shaping up to be one crappy week.

**A/N. Well, there you go. I totally have the rest of this pretty much planned out. You'll probably hate me for a few things I do, but in the end, I hope you enjoy it. This one will be one of the longest things I write, so be happy! Review to tell me how happy you are!**

**Thx-**

**TOAS**


	5. Explaining

**A/N. Well, I'm going to be focusing on this one mainly, and then I'll work on Literal Meanings, so it's sort of on an off/on Hiatus. This story is front and center because I actually have an outline for it/ Speaking of outlines, I'd like to dedicate this chappie to trainsgirl13 for looking over it and these chapters. Thanks!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black cat, and probably never will unless I somehow become rich…which will never happen.**

Eve looked around the desolate room, eyes sweeping over the three guards who looked half asleep and past the shadowed stairs until she was once again looking out the window. Judging by the position of the stars (She'd read about them once), she figured it had been three hours since they had last woken Train up, and that she should prod him awake. She sighed, and then turned to the slumbering cat. It only took a few quick prods to wake him, and she let him rub the sleep out of his eyes before asking him the usual questions.

"What's your name?" Train looked at her and sighed before letting his arms fall between his bent knees.

"Train Heartnet. You're Eve, and that's Sven. We were captured by the Numbers, and now they want to beat the crap out of me. I think that's it." Eve smiled softly at him, before remembering one last question.

"What's your gun called?" Train glanced up at her, before fingering the orichalcum weapon.

"Hades." Eve nodded.

"Alright, that covers memory and speech impairment. Stand up." Train did. "Walk along the line." Train did. "Spin in a circle and walk back." Train did everything without wobbling. Eve nodded.

"Good. You can walk. Now hit my hand." She said, waving it wildly in the air. Train smacked it as soon as it shot up.

"I think I'm ok, Eve. What about you?" Eve nodded, and then winced as a shock came from her collar. Train picked up on the fact and looked over.

"Were you using you nanomachines?" he asked, but Eve shook her head. Frowning, he brushed some of her hair away and examined the odd collar. He tapped on it a bit and tried to find a button that would do…anything, but was given nothing. He sighed, spinning it around her neck before sighing.

"I don't know. I haven't seen this kind of—" he was cut off as his body jerked sideways and he caved in on himself, whimpering slightly. Eve panicked, and bent over him, trying to find out what was wrong.

"Train! Train what is it? Train!" Her eyes wandered over to his glove, where a red light was blinking.

"Sven!" she shouted, and the green haired sweeper jerked awake, taking in the situation with fear in his eyes.

"Train!" Eve looked out the bars and saw their captors descending the stairs and walking towards them. A remote peeked out of IV's hand.

"Stop it!" She shrieked and miraculously, the man did. Train relaxed slightly, still hunched in on himself as Sven patted his shoulder. The two Numbers slowly came forward and unlocked the door, stepping in.

"Hello sweepers. And how do we feel today? Better?" Sven glared at them while Eve stared at them with contempt. Train was the only one to talk.

"Well, it was a good day, until you two showed up." This earned him another shock from the glove which resulted in him hunching back down.

"I suggest you don't talk to us that way," VIII stated coldly, glaring down at the crumpled figure.

"I supposed you're all confused—"

"No duh." Train whimpered again as the red light lit up on his glove.

"As I was saying, you must be confused as to how Gyanza was alive. It may help that he never died in the first place. When the Tao started sucking up his energy, it left just enough to keep him alive."

"How? He was shrivled up in the middle of a hole—" Train gasped as his glove shocked him again at Sven outburst. The green haired sweeper shut his mouth.

" Sure, he was a frail shell, but he was alive. And when the Numbers got him out of prison, we got him back up in his feet in exchange for loyalty to us. Now he's an eraser for Chronos, as well as some other Apostles of the Star—"

"Who?" Train really wished Sven would stop interrupting when another jolt of electricity shocked through him forcing him to gasp. IV glared warningly at Sven before continuing.

"A few live here in the castle, but the others are scattered around. We couldn't get a few, like the fire-bender and the blood man. But we have most of the others on our side now."

"Who's here?" Eve asked, secretly worrying about Leon. The boy couldn't have turned-he promised her! She immediately regretted the decision to ask when Train got shocked again. She bit her lip while feeling utterly guilty.

"You'll find out eventually. But after all of that talking, you must be hungry!" At this, the man managed to procure a bucket. VIII had one too, although this one seemed heavy, and a sloshing sound came from inside.

"Here's breakfast!" The helmeted assassin said, and he dropped the bucket with a clang on the stone floor. He nudged it closer when no one moved.

"Go on, it won't bite…probably." He laughed as he exited the cell, leaving VIII to drop the other pail and follow him. The door clanged shut behind him when he left. They continued laughing (Obnoxiously, in Train's opinion) as they went up the stairs. Silence came when they door finally closed behind them. Eve waited a few minutes before edging forward and dropped the lid on the floor. The boys watched as she dumped the contents onto the curved tin. Train recoiled when he saw the moldy cheese and rock hard bread drop onto the lid.

"I think I'll pass." He said, only to have his stomach growl at him in protest. He stared between it and the food before picking up some of the bread. Sven stared at him with his mouth open in shock as he tried to take a bite out of it. With a loud ripping noise, some of the bread ripped away, and Train swallowed it. The brown haired sweeper frowned a little before nodding in acceptance.

"Could be worse." He said, and he ripped some more off and chewed it. Eve glanced at the food before rejecting it.

"How could it possibly be worse?" Sven asked, watching as Eve peeked in the other tub and revealed water. At least it was clean. Train frowned in thought when he dipped his remaining bred in the water to soften it up.

"Well…hmm…we could have completely rotten cheese and moldy bread. Or no food at all. I'm gonna try the cheese." This time, both jaws dropped as Train broke a somewhat non-rotten piece of cheese away from the brick. He sniffed it a little before popping it in his mouth and swallowing it whole. Waiting with baited breath, Sven and Eve watched as Train cocked his head before his eyes went wide. He started choking and fell to the side, gasping his neck as he made gasping noises.

"Train! Oh my gosh, why did you eat that? Don't die, ok?" Train thought Sven was really jumping to conclusions, so he decided to stop playing with the pair.

"Hey, hey, it was just a joke-just a joke." He said, releasing his neck and sitting up. Sven stared at him for a few seconds before slugging him across his right shoulder. The laugh Train had been about to let out was stopped when his wrist gave off a sharp twinge of pain.

"Don't ever do that again. Ever!" Sven reprimanded loudly, attracting the attention of the guards.

"Calm down in there!" One guard, 'Grumpy' as Train decided to call him, shouted, and Train bent his head.

"Sorry. Trying to make light of out predicament. No need to blow it out of proportion." Train said, skulking not unlike a child would. Eve frowned at him.

"There is nothing funny about dying." She said seriously, and Train submitted.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you guys." And that was all Train said for the rest of the night.

Sven managed to get Eve to fall asleep, but when he glanced over at Train to make sure that the cat was slumbering, golden eyes glittered back at him. He wasn't going to get the ex-assassin to do anything tonight, and he knew it. The last thing that flickered through his mind before sleep claimed him was the curiosity at who they would see next.

**A/N. There you go. Hope you're looking forward to the next chapter!**

**Thx-**

**TOAS**


	6. Planting

**A/N. This once again goes to trainsgirl13 for looking over this and helping me out. Oh, and I will be taking characters from the manga and the anime, so please don't yell at me for having different characters.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black Cat. Never have, never will.**

The sound of rattling keys woke Train up. His amber eyes flickered open as he saw VIII unlocking the large metal doors. A quick glance to the side alerted him to the fact that his partners were awake as well. Iron protested as it was swung wide and Train's attention was jerked back to the Number.

"Come on Heartnet. We have a new friend that wants to play." He mocked, and he grabbed Train by the arm yanking him to his feet. The Black Cat stumbled a little as his balance was thrown, but regained his footing in time to avoid crashing into the wall. He was led to the middle of the room again before VIII dropped his arm and strode over to the table where IV was standing. Sven and Eve looked out from behind the bars as Train looked around, confused. Where was his opponent?

He felt something snaking around his ankle and looked down to see a large green vine wrapping tightly around his leg. He tried to jerk the captive limb away but nearly wrenched it out of its socket when the vines held steady. He looked around the dark room wildly as another vine started making its way around his other ankle. His gun appeared in his hand when he heard a movement coming from the stairs.

Soft footsteps echoed around the otherwise silent room as a form emerged from the shadows.

"Igor Planter?" Train questioned in shock, eyes going wide as he saw the man he assumed to be dead. More vines snaked into the room and started for Train as the gardener approached.

"Black Cat. I remember you. You were the one that destroyed my plants!" Thick vines wound themselves around Train's arms, subduing the violent protests that came from the actions. Train struggled against the restraining vines trying simultaneously to get out of the trap and scramble away from the advancing hostile.

"Stay away Planter." Train warned, managing to lift his gun arm and aim the weapon shakily at the man. Igor laughed heartily, head thrown back as even more vines wound around Train's chest, starting to constrict. The ex-assassin started finding it hard to breathe as his lungs were squeezed.

A small shout came from the prison and both fighters looked over to see Eve pressed up against the bars, eyes wide as she saw that her friend was choking. Train watched as recognition lit in the other man's eyes as well as anger.

"You! I remember you, little girl…You plant murderer!" he shouted, and he started advancing on the cell.

"No-!" Train's protest was cut off when he was flung into the wall harshly. Cracks shot out from the dent in the stone wall as he impacted. The Black Cat fell to the floor, head spinning as he tried to blink black spots away from his vision. From the little parts of reality he could see, he gathered that Igor was advancing on Eve, vine following him and twisting around the bars. The blonde gave a small yelp of surprise when she felt Sven push her behind him, taking up a defensive position in front of the girl he considered a daughter. Train stumbled drunkenly to his feet, desperate to save his friends.

"Don't!" He shouted, and he lunged forward, breaking past the weakening vines and pinning for Igor. The gardener looked over and Train had the half a mind to notice that his eyes widened in shock before he slammed into the man, sending them both sprawling to the floor. There was the faint sound of footsteps backing out of the way as the two men rolled into the wooden table.

"You always get in the way!" Planter screamed, and he slugged Train hard across the face, watching as blood spurted from his nose. "You're just a troublesome fly that should be killed!" Train tried to squirm away from another fist but only managed to block it with his shoulder. He cried out as the sheer power behind the punch sent the shoulder out of its socket.

"This is what you get when you mess with me!" Train blinked open dazed eyes just as he felt the vines return, snaking past his arms and legs and striking his throat.

They started winding around him, slowly constricting around his neck as he struggled to breathe. Nails clawed at the vines, trying to rip them away but failing as more trapped his arms behind his back. Strange gurgling gasps came from the choking form and the duo in the cell watched in horror as their friend struggled to get much needed oxygen into his system. Their view was blocked when the tormenter advanced towards them, eyes locked furiously on Eve's form.

"This is all your fault little girl! He tried to save you! So now look what happens when he does!" Tears gleamed in the bio-weapon's eyes as she watched Igor force more vines on Train, some snaking around his chest while others kept him from struggling.

"Stop it! You're killing him!" Sven shouted, reminding everyone that he was there. The only visible response from the gardener was a clenched fist and a sudden gasp from Train. His legs kicked as he fought to stay awake.

"Igor, we don't want him dead." VIII called out boldly, moving forward to get in his sight. The man didn't seem to acknowledge him, eyes focused on Train's bucking form.

"Igor! Let him go!" The vines continued to strangle Train.

"Igor!" Train's eyes started drooping, and the only thing he could heard over his desperate gasps was the sound of Eve crying. Then, a horrible splurching noise erupted in the room and the vines froze. Train cracked open his eyes to see Igor with a look of shock on his features before he keeled forward. A golden knife was sticking out of his back, with the Roman Numeral IV engraved on it. The owner of the blade stood behind the fallen man, hand clenched in anger.

Train could barely see the man through his failing vision, but he noticed the way he seemed to be frowning. Now why….was…t…h…a…t…

His head lolled to the side as he lost consciousness, not seeing the way the vines started to shrivel up and wither. VIII cam over and grabbed him by the collar, dragging him back to the cell which he threw the limp form inside of. Sven glanced up at the man, confusion, anger and shock mixed in his gaze.

"You killed him?" he asked softly, catching Eve move over to start taking care of Train out of the corner of his eye. VIII glared down at him, dark eyes narrowed.

"Would you rather I let him kill your partner? Chronos wants a living Black Cat, not a rotting corpse." With that, he left the cell, letting the door clang shut behind him as she stormed up the stairs.

When the sweeper looked around, IV and the body were gone as well.

**A/N. Sorry if that's short, I thought it was going to be longer, but…it wasn't. Please tell me how you liked it!**

**Thx-**

**TOAS**


	7. Freezing

**A/N. Sorry it took me so long to update! I was gone on vacay, for those of you who don't read Literal Meanings, but now-**

**I'M BACK! **

**And I come with a new chapter. I hope it's up to everyone's standards, but if it's not, I'm going to pull the 'I was at camp for a week and we didn't sleep at all and I'm still tired' card, but it shouldn't be needed. Hopefully. Anyway, enough of my rambling, On with the chapter, as I'm sure you're thinking.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black Cat.**

Train didn't wake up for the rest of the night, but when he did finally come to his senses, it wasn't peacefully. His whole body was sending him a jumbled mix of messages, the foremost being: Ouch! His entire being hurt, his wrist and throat sending the loudest messages. He attempted a groan, but halted it when his throat screamed at him for forgetting that it had been strangled a mere eight hours ago. He settled for a slight whimper and reached his uninjured hand for his throbbing neck. The small noise he made seemed to be enough to wake up Sven, and the green haired sweeper eyed his partner warily, afraid that if he moved too suddenly, he would startle the young man into yelling.

Golden eyes meet brown as Train lifted his head and stared pitifully at Sven. His throat was killing him, and if it didn't get the job done, the rest of his body would pitch in to finish him off. Sven shuffled closer to his friend, making sure to move the sleeping form of Eve with him. The blonde was settled against his shoulder, and Train had been curled up in the far corner. As soon as Sven got close to Train, he started looking over his wounds, first examining the still bound wrist and newly bound ribs. Finding that everything was in order, he smiled apologetically at Train before gently lifting his chin so that he could get a good look at his neck. Sven tried to ignore the pitiful whimper Train tried to restrain as he stared at the black and blue bruises that encompassed his partner's neck.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt?" He asked, eyes flicking to Train's pained ones before going back to his injured neck. The ex-assassin made a little noise in his throat before holding up all ten fingers. Sven watched as he folded them down before showing three more-thirteen.

"Can you talk?" Train shook his head, before grasping it in pain. Wincing at the unnecessary movement, Train tried breathing deeply, noting that his breath seemed to be coming out in visible puffs of air. He was confused, since he only saw his breath in cold air, and he wasn't cold…At that point, he noticed he was shivering. His arms shook slightly as he pulled them in around his throbbing chest and blinked up at Sven, teeth chattering.

"Cold?" Train nodded. Sven glanced around the cell, noting that he too was slightly chilled. A thin sheen of ice coated the only window in the room, and Sven was positive it hadn't been there when he'd first woken up. Glancing back at Train, he saw that the brown haired sweeper was hunched in on himself, an obvious sign of a broken rib for the ex-assassin.

"Time to meet an old friend of Sven's, Heartnet." Train's head jerked up when he heard Eight approach, keys rattling in his hands as Four prowled in the shadows behind him. Train glared at the Chronos number, in his mind yelling insults at Sephiria for ordering this in the first place. Eight just smiled down at Train and grabbed his upper arm, yanking him to his feet. The sweeper stumbled into the solid form of Eight as he struggled to regain his balance. Laughing at his inability to stay stationary, Eight forced Train out of the cell, past Sven and Eve who had just woken up. As soon as he exited the isolated cell, Train shivered.

The temperature of the outside prison seemed to have dropped twenty degrees. Ice coated the metal handles of the stairwell dark in the shadows and seemed to be making its way slowly into the room. Train flinched as the door clanged shut sharply behind him, bringing to light the headache that had been pounding quietly behind his eyes. He shook his head much like a cat would, watching Eight move to stand with Four in the shadows.

The sound of footsteps descending the stairs brought his attention back to his predicament-the fact that he was hurting and that he had no idea who he was fighting. Black boots were the first thing Train saw, followed by the glint of large glasses and a ridiculously furry hat that looked like one he'd seen the guards of Buckingham Palace wear. He felt an eyebrow rise up into his hairline as his opponent walked into view, ice following him into the dimly lit room.

The ugly hat wasn't the only ridiculous item of clothing on him. Train would have laughed at the large, science-room goggles that sat over his eyes and the fluffy scarf tucked into a bright white jacket. His boots were large and lined with fun, some of which was peeking out of the top. And while Train found it would be his death wish if he laughed, he snorted as the man stood before him.

"I suggest you buy your clothes somewhere else dude." He suggested, unable to keep a small laugh from accompanying the advice. The mystery man scowled at him, before both twisted around as Sven gasped out a name.

"Death Slasky?" At this, train broke down in laughter, grasping his middle as his bruised ribs protested at the sudden movement. 'Death Slasky' glared down at him, and suddenly, train found his throat freezing up. He gasped, hands leaving his middle and shooting for his already abused throat. Golden eyes flickered up to the oddly dressed man, and the way his hand was outstretched.

"Mind if I call you Darth Vader?" he ground out, regretting the words as soon as he said them. His throat closed even more, and Train knew he wouldn't be able to talk after this without agonizing pain. He could hear a noise of protest from the cell he'd been kept in but stayed focused on his new opponent. His throat was released from its icy prison as Darth Vader circled him, eying the pristine gun that was nestled in Train's worn holster.

Without any warning movement or sound at all, Death Slasky raised his arms and a massive ball of ice appeared above his head. This wasn't an oversized children's snowball, this was a two yard wide hunk of solid ice. And it was hurtling straight for Train. The Black Cat dove out of the way of the massive chunk of glacier smashed into the floor where he had been moments before. The whole thing splintered on impact, shards of ice spinning in every direction. A few pieces headed for Train, slicing into Train's arms and neck, one impaling his leg. He shuddered in pain as a feeling of numbness spread from the point of impact. The groan of pain he was about to let lose was frozen in his throat as he heard a whimper of fear come from Eve. His head jerked around and he saw that Sven was bent over Eve to protect her from the ice shards that had managed to fly through the space between the bars. Thankfully, neither of them were hit, but Train's relief was short lived as he felt his injured wrist freeze up. He looked down to see a block of ice slowly crawling up his lower arm. A searing freezing feeling alerted him to the fact that both of his ankles were similarly trapped. Death Slasky approached, slowly taking off his glasses and wiping away invisible dirt before he crouched down next to Train.

"I suppose you could call me Darth Vader, Heartnet, because I could definitely bring you death. And Vader-similar to vade, as in vanish. All evidence of your death would disappear. But I am much darker than your comic book villain." Train chuckled weakly, and would have come up with a witty retort had he been able to say it. All he could do was frown darkly at the man and whip out his gun iwht his free hand. A shot rang through the air, and the glasses Slasky had just replaced over his eyes were shot off, leaving a small cut streaking across the side of his head.

The Ice Taoist jerked away, hand shooting to the abrasion on his temple. Another shot sent his falling to the floor, blood pouring out of his shoulder.

"Evil rat!" he shouted, and he sent ice to surround Train's chest, forcing his lungs to constrict. The sweeper choked, and his free hand scrambled at his chest. Eve shouted in fear for her older brother figure, watching as his lips turned blueish.

Somehow, Train managed to lift his hand from scrambling across his chest and grasp at his gun. It clattered around until Train grabbed the edge of the rope and yanked his weapon back to himself. The gilded handle slid into his hand perfectly and he managed to lift it again, aiming for the Taoist's head but hitting his hat instead. It blew off his head. Death Slasky growled in anger and swung a foot at Train head, sending it careening it to the side before his immobile form yanked it back.

Train hissed at the whiplash he got, but the anger of the Taoist loosened the ice, and the sweeper managed to yank himself out of his trap, scrambling against the far wall to give his lungs a chance to get back to normal. Slasky approached menacingly, ice crackling around the floor as he stalked his prey. Train scampered away, hissing as his newly numbed ankles tried to give out under him. He fell against the wall, hand pressed against it as he lifted up his gun and shot another round at Death Slasky's foot.

The Taoist danced away and formed another ice hunk, forcing it to hover above Train. The sweeper glanced up, and then around at Sven. The bars weren't going to be able to protect them from another explosion of ice shards. It was far enough away now that it shouldn't bother them too much. A glowing light pulsed at the inside, and Train somehow knew that it would be imperative that he kept this ticking bomb away from his two friends. His gun was in his hand before he had the time to think, and he had shot three rounds at the pulsing hunk of glacier before he could blink.

The whole thing exploded.

Literally.

It blew apart, and the shockwave that _shouldn't_ have come but did sent Train flying backwards and into the wall, slamming his head into the handle and knocking him out immediately. Death Slasky was thrown up the staircase and into the door. Sven and Eve felt the blast, and the older of the two wrapped himself around the younger, keeping her from the harmful shards of ice.

Eve screamed as the whirlwind of ice and debris flew around them, smashing into millions of pieces on the wall. It ended after fifteen minutes, and she peeked out from beneath Sven's arm to see Eight and Four hunkered underneath the table, both holding up their arms to protect themselves from the debris.

But Train was slumped against the bars of their cell…

And there was blood matting his hair.

**A/N. gah! I hope that was good enough for you guys! If this is really crappy, I'll try and edit it before I put up the next chapter. Review and tell me how you liked it!**


	8. Burning

**A/N. I'm back! Sorry this took so long to update, but I've had so many other ideas for Prince of Persia that I had to write them down, and this sort of fell to the back seat, if you will. Hope this one's good enough for ya!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black Cat.**

Sven watched in horror as his friend was unceremoniously dumped in their cell by Four, head hitting the floor harshly. Eve frowned at them, but then whimpered as the light on her collar turned red. Four smirked.

"Don't try using any nanomachines, little miss. You'll just hurt yourself like Heartnet here." At this, the Number kicked Train's side brutally and left with Eight, their laughter echoing around the cavernous room. As soon as the duo heard the door slam shut they rushed for Train, Eve carefully lifting Train's head off the ground while Sven started ripping the bottom half of his jacket to shreds. Tying them tightly around his shaggy brown head, they propped him up against the wall before they tried to wake him.

"Train? Train?" Eve kept repeating his name while lightly slapping his cheek, trying to rouse the young sweeper. Sven went for the chilled bucket of water, dragging it over so that it was positioned near his limp hand. The one eyed sweeper was about to heft some of its contents over Train's head before Eve held up a hand to stop him.

"No! He's too cold-we can't risk getting him wet on top of that." Sven glanced down at the girl in confusion before placing a hand to Train's forehead. He withdrew the appendage sharply when he felt the icy coldness of his forehead. This was _not_ good. He glanced around at Eve, noting the way she was taking off her jacket and draping it over the shivering form of their friend.

"Hand me your jacket." But Sven was already sliding out of the overcoat and handing it to Eve before she finished speaking. She took the tattered coat without a word and placed it over Train, noting the way he flinched when she jostled his broken wrist. The movement didn't stop there, and eventually, Train opened golden eyes, glazing blearily at them.

"Princess? Wha-?" He mumbled, glancing from Eve to Sven to the blood that was still pooled outside their cell door. Eve was staring into his eyes, realizing that his pupils had dilated.

"You have a concussion." Train's eyebrows rose at the statement, and he nodded sagely.

"Oh yeah. Now I remember where I felt this before…I think. Sven, have I had a concussion before?" Train asked, eyes flickering up to the green haired sweeper. Sven nodded.

"Yep. About seventeen times." Train nodded again, but then figured that it wasn't the best idea he'd had.

"I should stop doing that." He muttered, running a hand wearily through his hair. Eve looked at him appraisingly before turning to sit next to him.

"That would be good." The ex-assassin managed a small smile and leaned his head back against the stone wall. "How long have I been out?" Sven was the one to answer.

"Not sure, but they let you sit outside the door for a good number of hours. It's probably morning." Train grunted and let his eyes flicker closed. Maybe he could get some actual sleep before the numbers came again…

Train turned one way, and then another, but he couldn't find a comfortable position. It was really hot in the little cell. He shivered. Eve looked over at the young man.

"Cold?" Train slowly shook his head, eyeing the wine that was still wound around one of the bars from Igor's visit.

"Too hot." He mumbled, and he reached his glove-clad hand up to brush hair away from his forehead. Eve frowned.

"You shouldn't be. You nearly froze to death not nine hours ago." She reached up to feel his forehead, noting that it had inched closer to being a normal temperature. Train shrugged away from her.

"Still hot." Eve frowned at him, but then realized that she too was feeling rather hot. The smell of something rotting his her nose, and she looked around to see that the single remaining vine curled around the bars was slowly withering, turning black and ashen. There was the sound of several footsteps on the stairs, and Train lifted his head slowly to see Four, Eight (Big shockers) and…

Preta Ghoul.

(The vine erupted into flames and the ashes floated silently to the floor in a neat little pile.)Train assessed the man, watching as he rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck cockily.

"Volfied! Long time no see! And I can tell you for a fact that it's very pleasing to see you locked up after that long time. Especially with your friends." With that, the imp-eared Taoist cackled manically, and Train snarled in disgust.

"I've got to fight this creep?" He asked the two Numbers. Eight nodded.

"Of course. We think he'll be an excellent opponent." The Number stepped forward and unlocked the veritable cage, stepping in momentarily to grab the still shivering form of Train to haul him out in the open. The sweeper stumbled on his feet, drawing a laugh from Preta before he stood to his full height. He was eye to eye with the Taoist, and his golden eyes gleamed in the dim lighting. Smoke curled from Preta Ghoul's arms and he pulled back into a ready stance. Train simply stood, watching out of the corner of his eye as Eight circled around to stand next to Four. The helmeted Number spoke for the first time in a while.

"Preta, I believe I forgot to mention that Train was a close friend of Saya's. So with that what you will." At the mention of the long dead female sweeper, flames lit in the Taoist's eyes.

"Saya? You knew that woman?" He shrieked. Train remained silent, but Ghoul didn't need an answer.

"I'll kill you!" And with that as his battle cry, he leapt for Train. The younder man dodged nimbly to the side and twisted, whipping out Hades and continuing the motion so that the gun collided with the small of his enemy's back. It knocked the man to the ground, and Train darted swiftly around so that he was directly behind Ghoul. The ex-Apostle of the Star jumped to his feet, leaving black scorch marks on the floor from where he'd pushed off. He managed to grab Train's shoulders, and the blue jacket protect his shoulder crumbled away. The Black Cat yelped in pain as his shoulder blistered under the scorching heat.

He skittered away from Preta before deciding to taunt him.

"Didn't that guy from those Batman comics have your name? Something like Ras like that?" He asked, ducking while the Taoist swung a punch at his head. A swift swipe of Train's right leg sent Preta Ghoul sprawling to the ground, and the ex-Number swiftly slammed his gun into the side of the man's kneecap. A sickening crunch accompanied the motion, and the Taoist howled in pain.

"I'll kill you!" He shouted again, and he lunged at Train, catching him around the middle and sending them both to the floor. Train gasped as his middle immediately began to burn. Smacking the man's arms from around his stomach, Train struggled away from the deadly grip and managed to slip away. A tight grasp on his ankle tripped him and he slammed into the floor, knocking his chin heavily against the stone ground. Stars danced around his eyes, and he blinked heavily while Ghoul dragged him back.

His fingers scrambled against the ungiving stone, and Train desperately kicked away from the Taoist as he felt heat seep from beneath his shoe. One of his flailing feet clipped Preta on the face, and he momentarily let go of Train's foot. Quickly drawing the appendage towards himself, Train leapt to his feet, wobbling slightly as his burned ankle protested sharply. His shoulder burned as he reached out to catch himself on the wall and regain his breath.

With his back turned, Preta Ghoul managed to sneak up on the injured sweeper and grab him in a strangle hold. His throat automatically burned, and his hand scratched marks into the Taoist's skin as he struggled against the Apostle of the Star. His throat closed in on itself, and odd choking sounds emanated from it. (Still, he managed to talk.)

"Figured out what happened to that guy." Train ground out, and Preta Ghoul loosened his hold enough for Train to get a hand between the deadly appendage and himself.

"He died 'cause of Batman. So let's pretend I'm Bruce Wayne, and you're the dead guy." The sweeper suggested, and he grasped the Taoist's arm tightly, ignoring the pain that automatically shot through his hands. A quick flip of the wrist, and Preta was lying sprawled out on the floor. Train panted harshly as he gave the man a sharp kick to the head, sending him into unconsciousness.

He remained standing only moments longer before he collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily as his face pressed against the still blessedly cool stone floor. He ignored Eight and Four ordering for him to get up and closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of being alive.

For now.

**A/N. Again, sorry this took so long for an update, but I hope you're happy. Literal Meanings should be up sometime tomorrow. Please review, if there was anything you thought was incorrect/wonky/bad/good/unreadable please please please tell me!**

**Thx-**

**TOAS**


	9. Forgetting

**A/N. SOOOO SORRY this has taken so long to get up. I've been trying to write all of the chapters ahead of time so that I'm not stuck giving you guys bad chapters. Hopefully, that's a good enough excuse for ya'll. In interest with the story, someone point out that some of Train's injuries seemed to disappear, and for that I'm dreadfully sorry! As of right now, Train has: a broken nose, a dislocated shoulder, a cracked wrist, cracked ribs, his throat has been choked, frozen and burned, his arms are lightly cut, the ice splinter in his leg has melted, but there's still a pretty big hole in his leg, a concussion, a burned shoulder, ankle, middle and hand. That's about it! I'll try and keep these consistent for the rest of the story! Again, sorry about the problems with the story, I'll try and keep them to a minimum from now on. Disclaimers in the first eight chapters.**

Train moaned softly as Eight dragged him by the collar back into the cage. The fabric brushed up against his abused throat, making him cough violently. Eight just sneered at him and literally threw his limp form into the cell. Train crashed to the floor and gasped harshly as all of his injuries made themselves known. His leg throbbed, as well as his ribs, and his pounding head didn't want to be left out either. A quick step was all it took for Eight to retreat out of the cell and the door shut sharply after him. Eve and Sven immediately shot towards Train and Eve quickly felt his forehead. Her own bunched in worry.

"He has a fever-Sven, could you get his jacket off of him?" Train lifted his head weakly and waved Sven off with a limp hand.

"I c'n do it…" He mumbled, wincing as his throat seemed to grate at the words. He managed to fumble out of the blue cloth and shove it away from himself before he leaned back against the cool stone wall. Breathing out contentedly at the momentary rush of comfort, his eyes flickered hazily over to Eve, who was dragging the water bucket towards him. Sven walked over and helped.

Three minutes later, the pair had their sleeves rolled up and were dunking strips of Sven's jacket into the lukewarm water. Train watched through half lidded eyes as the sopping wet pile grew on his jacket. After all of Sven's jacket had been thoroughly soaked, Eve started layering strips on Train's too-warm forehead, watching as his eyes closed fully at the coolness they brought him. Sven took up a position to watch the stairs, waiting for the two Numbers who had vanished sometime in the past hour.

Ten minutes passed, and then twenty, and the Numbers still hadn't shown. Sven figured it would be a while until they did return. His sense of time had been blown off course from all the nights spent in a room where natural light was hard to come by, but he figured Train was taken out to fight every day around noon, and then left in the cell for the rest of the time. That gave them a twenty-two hour window to get Train to rest and to fix him up as best as they could before the next fight. All of the other times, a guard had been watching them, and had forced them away from Train. Now, it appeared that the Numbers knew the trio wouldn't be getting out any time soon, and the guards had vanished.

Turning his back to the stairs, Sven came over to help Eve with some of Train's more severe injuries-namely, the still bleeding gash in his leg and all of the burn marks on him. Eve held Train's jacket up questioningly in front of the weakened sweeper before he nodded in accent. Eve wordlessly began tearing up another jacket while Sven took a wet piece of his own and began to wrap it around Train's throat. After three strips, Train moaned in protest. Sven immediately stopped.

"What?"

"Too tight…" He muttered, and Sven realized that even if he was tying them as loosely as possible, it must feel as if a cat was lying across his throat. Bowing his head in apology, Sven undid all of the strips and merely layered them over the abused section of throat.

Eve had finished binding Train's calf and turned to his burned shoulder. It was an angry red color, and the young girl didn't dare touch it. As soon as Sven was through with Train's throat, Eve directed the ex-assassin's attention to herself.

"This is going to hurt." Train nodded wearily and allowed Eve to help him slide down so that he was lying on his back. She smiled quickly at the injured sweeper before pulling together a few drenched cloths and pressing them gently against the burned flesh. Train whimpered softly, drawing a compassionate glance from Eve before she snagged a few more cloths and layered them across the back of his shoulder. He closed his eyes tightly as a wave of pain crossed him but kept him mouth shut, if not for his sake, then for Eve's.

He'd had to treat an injured friend before. Whether it was Sven or Eve, he never liked causing them the pain he had to whenever he tended to their injuries. He was blessedly thankful that he was the one that usually got hurt, because it kept him from the emotional pain of causing the few friends he had any grief. And it was selfish too, he mused as Eve slowly lowered him back to the ground. Selfish of him to want the lesser pain while his friends drew on the agony he felt whenever he was injured. Selfish that he wished upon them a greater form of hurt than would ever fall on him.

He completely forgot about that once Eve pressed down on his middle. A muted cry escaped his lips as he jerked up. His shoulders were met with the ready hands of Sven who gently pushed him back to the ground and held him there while Eve quickly finished putting the wetted jacket against his tender stomach.

"Could have…warned me…" He grit out, and eve managed an amused smile.

"You'd've tensed, and made it all the worse." She replied, pulling his fraying shirt back down over the burn and then binding the strips under the shirt. He winced at any pressure to his abdomen, and Sven kept restraining him until Eve backed away. His fists clenched together once Sven moved away. The movement awakened fresh pain in his palms and he immediately drew them against his chest. Eve already had two pieces of jacket ready and slowly drew one of Train's hand away from his body. Carefully, she wound the wet cloth around his hand before taking the other and repeating the procedure. Train drew the offended appendages back into himself with a quick glare at eve, who just shrugged.

"I could have left them." Train didn't bother to answer, noting for the first time that Sven was taking up a position on his other side and reaching for his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" The words were softly spoken, but they echoed through the small room.

"You dislocated your shoulder, remember?" At the words, a new pain seemed to shoot up Train arm and he nodded.

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm going to set it back into place." He said. Train closed his eyes as one of Sven's hand went to his upper arm and the other braced against his shoulder.

"On the count of three, ok? One, two," With a quick push the bone slid quickly back into place. Train gasped at the momentary pain, barely feeling Eve begin to strap his arm to his chest as he glared at Sven.

"Three?" he muttered darkly, silently cursing the fact he couldn't get his voice any louder than a whisper, "What happened to three?" Sven cocked his head appraisingly.

"You know what happens when I say 'three'. You tense, and that makes it harder. We went through this not fifteen minutes ago!" Train stuck his tongue out at Sven, only to retract it quickly and Eve smacked him lightly on the head.

"That's not nice." She reprimanded, and Train dropped his gaze sullenly.

"He started it." Eve's eyebrows rose at the childish statement before the ran her eyes over her patient, trying to catch some injury she'd missed.

"Anything else?" Train wordlessly pointed down to his ankle, and Eve could barely see the red that signaled a vicious burn.

"Did it get your foot?" Train shook his head, slowly levering himself back up into a sitting position, despite the dizziness it caused him. Eve pushed the pants leg up gently and took the final three cloths and wound them around the burned flesh. Train didn't wince this time, which dually comforted Eve and concerned her. As soon as she was done with his ankle, she quickly turned to look into his eyes.

"Train?"

"Hmm?" His eyes flickered up to hers, and she started at how dilated they were.

"Can you tell me where we are?" He frowned momentarily.

"Um….Tearju's? I think I got hit with her 'eggs'." He put up air quotes around the word 'eggs'. Eve stared at her friend in horror.

"No…" Sven looked over from where he'd re-taken his position to watch the door.

"What?"

"Train can't remember where we are…"

**A/N. Ah, crap, this story's really gotten out of hand. Shoot. I had an outline and everything! I guess this means I won't be able to type up those chapters as fast…Review!**

**Thx-**

**SHADOW**


	10. Exploding

**A/N. I'm BACK! And I have a nice, new, long chapter! *Waggles eyebrows while holding page in front of readers* SEE! Ok, I'll give it to you on one condition…but I forgot what it was, so I guess you can have it…to READ it…*Tosses paper* have fun! Disclaimer in previous chapters.**

Sven stared at Train, who was looking lazily around the cell.

"I think she should remodel." Train nearly jumped when he heard his own voice.

"Whoa…what happened to my voice?" he grated out, feeling around the wet bandages. He flinched and retracted his hand, staring at the strip of jacket that was wound around it. Eyeing all of the bandages on himself, he turned to fix Eve with a glare.

"What happened?" Eve was about to answer, but then Sven whipped around and held a hand to his lips. Train, unused to the sudden and desperate gestures, did as told and quit talking. Eve quickly shoved him towards the corner and took up a position right in front of him. Bewildered at the sudden activity, Train didn't even feel the pain the movement put him through as he watched two men come in with a bucket.

"Dinner time, mates!" One called enthusiastically, and he opened the door to drop the bucket in. It tilted precariously before settling right side up, spilling none of the food. Train smiled brightly at the duo.

"Thanks!" He called softly, and they stared at him with something short of disgust.

"Whatever." They left, and Sven immediately grabbed the bucket. A quick look through produced three small hunks of bread and three apples that were definitely in the early stages of being rotten. The water, thankfully, wasn't contaminated, so Sven lifted the bucket over. As soon as the food was handed out, the duo turned to Train, who was happily munching on the stale bread. Sven cleared his throat.

"Uh, Train…how much do you remember?" The man in question gave him a questioning look.

"What do you mean?" Eve decided to contribute.

"Well, how long have we been at Tearju's?" Sven shot Eve a thankful look. If they kept Train from panicking, it would be for the best. Train seemed to be trying his hardest to belay their struggles. He looked concerned, as well as completely freaked out.

"What are you guys talking about? We left Tearju's place ages ago. Are you ok?" The duo shot each other a look of incredulity. Hadn't he just said he couldn't remember? Sven immediately stopped his train of thoughts and shot an irritated look at Train.

"Were you faking?" Realization bloomed in Eve's eyes and she immediately turned to grace Train with a look of exasperation. Had he been joking? Playing tricks on them just like he had with the cheese? But the confusion on Train's face looked real enough.

"What are you talking about?" As did the answer.

Sven sighed.

"Not two minutes ago you thought we were still at Tearju's." The ex-assassin's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"…You're not just pulling my leg?"

"NO!" Train flinched slightly as the shout hurt his ears and he immediately clapped his bound hands over them.

"Sorry." He whispered. Sven tried to calm down.

"Alright. Let's just handle this calmly and rationally. Train what are our names?"

"Sven and Eve." The scathing note to the answer was scarcely hidden. Sven gave his friend a raised eyebrow before continuing.

"How long have we been here?"

"Trick question. None of us know. My guess is around a week. Maybe less." Sven nodded. That sounded somewhat accurate.

"Alright. What day were we kidnapped on?" Train frowned as he thought.

"Tuesday? I'm gonna say Tuesday." A harsh cough came from Train and they paused the questioning long enough to give him a drink of water from the half-empty tub.

"Sorry." He rasped, and Sven nodded.

"That's fine. Where are we?" Something seemed to vanish from Train's eyes, a glint of defiance for something.

"Another trick question. I was asleep on the way here, and you never told me where Tearju lived." Eve groaned. Train had forgotten again.

"Hmm. How did we get down here?" Sven asked, hoping that Train would eventually remember.

"Walked."Train was fingering the bandages that would around his neck and palms. He cocked his head. "What happened?" Sven sighed.

"We found a bounty, and when Eve ran off, you went off after her. She was being held hostage in an alley, and then you got captured. Eight and Four-" Train flinched at the names, and something seemed to light in his eyes.

"-brought us down here. You've fought-"

"I know who I've fought. Why are you reminding me?" Eve cocked her head to the side and looked at Train closely. She turned to Sven.

"He'll forget every once in a while, apparently. And then, we say something to trigger his memory, and it comes back. Or, we wait long enough, and it comes back on its own. Train stared at the duo in confusion.

"What's going on?" The pair turned back to Train.

"You have a concussion, and you keep forgetting and then remembering." Eve explained sharply. The young sweeper thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright." Eve turned away.

"We need to think of something that will always make you remember." Train frowned.

"How are we supposed to figure that out?" Eve shrugged.

"What words are most important, infuriating or up riling to you?"

"Important words, hmm? Eve, Sven…Saya…" The duo smiled as they were included in the important words, and sighed as the name of his long dead best friend joined them.

"Infuriating?" Train's eyes flickered to Eve before a cold smile crept over his features.

"Creed, Eight, Four, Chronos, Apostles, Star, Die." Sven frowned at the last word.

"Die?" Train fixed hurt eyes on him.

"Don't ask." He rasped, hurt throat catching up with him again. Eve saw fit to distract the distraught man.

"Up riling?" Train closed his eyes in concentration.

"Erase, Food, Free, All-you-can-eat and…" Train through for a minute before a broad smile lit his face.

"Milk. That one should work every time!" The prisoners all smiled at the simple term that was so very important to one of their members.

"Alright. All those words. Got anything to write them down with?" Eve shook her head, but Train pointed to the darkened corner.

"There were some bits of charcoal in the corner. You could write on the walls." Eve motioned for Sven to stay and quickly snatched up two pieces of charcoal. She tossed one to Sven and turned to the dimly lit corner they were next to.

"Alright. You remember the first two groups?" Sven asked and she nodded.

"Good. You take those, I got the last ones." The both turned to write, and for a few moments, the only sound was charcoal grating against stone before Sven turned back.

"Train, what was after 'food'?" He asked. Confused golden eyes met his.

"Huh?"

" After you said 'food', you said something before you said 'milk'." The confused look stayed on Train's face.

"What are you talking about?" Sven turned to Eve, who muttered a word.

"Apostles." Something flickered in Train's eyes, and he turned to Sven.

"What did you need?" Sven shot a glance at Eve before repeating his question.

"What came after 'food'?"

"Free." Sven stared at Train for a while before scrawling the final words onto the wall and tossing the charcoal away. Eve threw hers away as well, and then turned to Train. A thoughtful look crosser her face, one that Train didn't like.

"What is it?"

"Well, I'm thinking that it could be a good idea that we have a few words that make you forget as well." Train's brows pulled together as he thought, and then he nodded.

"That would be good."

"What scares you?" Train balked, staring at eve as if to ask if she was being serious.

"What?"

"Well, if something you love makes you remember, and something you hate whips you up so that you remember, it seems that something really negative would make you forget." Sven stared at Eve.

"Since when did you become a psychologist?" Train coughed lightly, meaning to cover a laugh, but then the cover-up turned real, and Train was coughing harshly into his palm. Sven slapped him on the back.

"Come on Train, breathe." A final thump sent the sweeper gasping for air, and he nodded weakly.

"Thanks." They sat in silence for a minute before Eve prodded Train.

"Fears?" Train glanced over at Sven and Eve shyly before whispering a few words.

"Dead…Thirteen…Leave…Hate…Abandon." Train waited for Eve to grab the charcoal and write up his greatest fears on the wall for all to see. She didn't. A brown haired head cocked to the side.

"Aren't you going to write them?" He rasped. Eve shook her head, long pigtails sweeping the ground. She tapped her temple.

"I'll remember them." Train nodded, secretly thankful that she wouldn't put his deepest fears up on the wall. Sven had to ruin it though.

"Why don't we try it?" The ex-assassin nodded dully, not altogether thrilled about the prospect of forgetting everything again.

"Shoot."

"Leave." Train shook his head.

"Dead." Nothing.

"Thirteen." A flinch, but he still remembered.

"Abandon." Something flickered in his eyes, and Train thought he was about to forget, but the memories solidified. He shook his head.

Eve was starting to get annoyed. Thinking the problem through, the blonde figured there might be something wrong with the delivery.

"Hate!" She roared, giving Train a fearsome sneer. He jerked slightly, and the duo waited for him to raise his head.

"Where's Tearju?" He asked. Eve smiled at Sven, and then turned to Train.

"Saya." A shadow passed over his eyes, and he turned to Eve.

"Did I forget?" Eve nodded.

Footsteps on the staircase stopped them from further conversation.

Chains seemed to clank as Eve and Sven took up a position in front of their concussioned friend. Eight and Four were hidden from Train's view, and he could only see two pairs of shiny black shoes, as well as a pair of scruffy, worn Reeboks. Confusion danced in his eyes, and Eve didn't miss the warning signs of him starting to forget. She sidled over to the side to reveal a boy with a shock of messy blue hair with a pair of goggles slung around his neck. An oversized jacket and pair of cargo shorts made him seem smaller, less confident than he had before Train had first seen him. (The handcuffs binding his hands in front of him might have helped.) Train's jaw dropped as his eyes met the boy's.

"Leon?" He whispered. The boy nodded jerkily, regret in his features.

"Sorry Train." The sweepers hadn't grasped the full meaning of this until Eight strode over and unlocked the door. Something hardened in Train's eyes and he pressed himself harder against the wall.

"No. No way." He pressed farther into the wall, charcoal rubbing against his stark white shirt. His shook his head. Eight shoved aside Sven and Eve who were trying to stand in front of Train.

"You can't do that!" Sven shouted as he tried to grab hold of the Number's shoulder. Eight sent him a glare.

"Why not? It's nothing I haven't done before." Sven snarled as he was shoved roughly up against the wall. Eve had danced away.

"You shouldn't!" She exclaimed, and Eight froze with his hand wrapped around Train's locks. The sweeper had a look of surprise and pain in his eyes. Sven caught a slightly flickering there too.

"Why not?" The Number repeated, and he started lifting his prisoner up. Train tried to move with him, lifting himself hastily off the floor, all the while, something flickering on and off in his eyes.

"He'll forget everything!" Eight froze, staring between Eve and Train.

"Really?" Eve nodded swiftly, watching as Eight narrowed his eyes and examined Train, twisting his head sharply to look at the wound on the back. He turned sharply back to Eve.

"Prove it."

"Umm…" Train flinched harshly as Eight jerked his head. Eve saw the wavering look of concentration flick off. He wasn't here anymore.

"You just did it for us." She said coldly. Someone gasped as Train was dropped to the floor. The blonde looked over to see Leon staring at the crumpled form of Train. He looked lost there, standing in his too-big clothes and ratty shoes. His eyes were distraught, looking around the dark room hopelessly.

"What do you mean?" Train lifted himself up and stared around at everyone.

"When did these guys get here? Who's the kid?" He rasped, lifting a hand to point at Leon, who gaped at Train. Eight stared down at the sweeper, awe and fascination in his gaze.

"He's completely forgotten?" he questioned sharply, turning to look at Sven. He nodded.

"Everything." Eight watched as Train pulled himself up to lean against the wall. When his legs shook, he stared down at himself.

"Whoa, what happened?" Eight paid him no mind, turning to smile at Four. The blind sweeper seemed to have sensed his companion's smile and returned it.

"How do you bring him out of it?" The helmeted assassin asked, taking a step forward and jerking Leon along with him. The blue headed boy was pushed against the bars as Four moved to step into the cage.

"Say something out of a certain group of words." Eve supplied. Four frowned.

"Do it." Eve turned to Train, snapping in front of him to pull his attention from the bandages wound around his hand. His head snapped up.

"Yeah Eve?" She dismissed the thought of using names to bring him out of it, and turned to a different category.

"Erase." She said calmly. Again, the flicker passed through his eyes, and he blinked quickly before turning to Eight. He snarled.

"Get away! I'm not fighting a little kid!" Eight smiled brilliantly at Sven.

"Can you make him forget?" He asked eagerly. Sven glanced quickly at the duo and then back to Eight.

"Occasionally."

"Can you do it now?"

"No."

"Why?" Sven thought for a minute before deciding to give a half truth.

"He's not in the right state of mind." Eight shot a glance at Train, who was still pressed against the wall.

"What is the right state of mind?" Sven shrugged.

"Don't know. But Eve and I can just tell." He said. It was a truth, finally. They could probably make Train forget whenever they wanted, but he wasn't going to let Eight play with his friend like that. Confuse the poor young man until he lost it. However, he couldn't stop the Number as he grabbed a fistful of brown hair and dragged the wounded sweeper out of the cell and shoved him into the middle of the dimly lit room. He swayed on his feet for a while, watching through hazy eyes as the handcuff were lifted off of Leon's wrists and the boy was shoved forward. He stumbled to a halt a few feet from Train, gazing at him apologetically.

"They making you fight?" Train asked, his head bent so that his hair fell across his eyes. Leon nodded.

"They have Layla. They said if I didn't fight, they'd kill her and everyone else in the group. I didn't know I'd be fighting you though." Leon whispered back, subtly rubbing his wrist from where the metal had dug into them. Train nodded.

"Alright. Let's have a go. No head shots, please?" He whispered so softly that Leon had trouble hearing him. The teen nodded.

"Alright." He breathed just as softly. Apparently, they had been talking too long.

"Get on with it!" Four prodded, and with that, Leon lunged half-heartedly at Train. The ex-assassin ducked sloppily, dragging his injured leg behind him as he moved around. A soft wind came around his front and kept him from falling. Shooting a grateful look at Leon, Train whipped out Hades. Leon eyed it warily, pulling up a massive sphere of wind and hurtling it at Train. Rare black metal stopped the spinning ball, and the excess wind rushed by him, sending his hair in every direction. Moving before Leon could react, Train shot a quick succession of three bullets at his feet, making the boy jump backwards. In an almost primal reaction, the Tao user sent a whole wall of wind towards Train, who had a hard time blocking it. Tumbling backwards, he made sure to keep his arms around his head, no matter how much it hurt the burns and breaks. Shouts of anger came from Sven and Eve, who were once again pressed up against the bars. Leon shot them an apologetic look. How he hated to cause their friend pain!

Turning away from the despairing duo, he barely managed to block a half-hearted punch to the head. He reacted instinctively by knocking the feet out from Train and sending him sprawling to the floor. Wincing as he lightly tapped his head, a fog seemed to settle over his thoughts, making them muggy and disoriented. Jumbled thoughts smashed together, and the only thing he could really know for certain was that the scrawny teenager before him could be trying to hurt him. A voice in the back of his head was whispering against the thought. _No, you know him._ Train was confused._ But he hurt me!_ The voice was quick to answer. (He thought it sounded suspiciously like Saya) _Because he has to! Trust him._ Train ducked wildly as a fist came for his shoulder, and Train decided to stop arguing with himself.

Pulling his gun up again, he poured energy into the barrel and fwoom! Electricity sparked through the ball of wind that Leon had conjured, traveling all throughout it as the wind seemed to grow larger and larger. Thinking it was Leon, Train backed away. The rail gun magically appeared back in its holster.

"Shut it off!" He shouted at the boy. But the blue-headed youth was watching in horror as more electricity seemed to bloom into being and race around the now six-foot round ball of energy.

"Do something with it!" The shout jolted Leon out of his state of panic. Four and Eight had raced each other to the stairs, and were safely ducked behind a corner, ready to jump out as soon as the explosion settled.

"I can't! Something took it out of my control!" Unbound wind picked up and started stirring anything in the room around, whipping official papers off the desk in the corner and spinning Eve's hair into knots. Horror spread across Train's features as he realized what this meant. This swirling explosive wasn't controllable by Leon, meaning everyone in the room would feel the blast when it happened.

"Get to the cage!" Train roared over the loud rush of wind, and he locked a hand around Leon's upper arm. The boy allowed himself to be drug over to the firm frames of the bars and he stared into Train's serious, if not worried eyes. Something kept flickering through them, although leon wouldn't know that Train was close to forgetting again.

"I need you to put up a shield!" he shouted into Leon's ear, watching the boy nod vigorously.

"Wait till I tell you, because you'll need all of your energy to keep it up!" Again, the boy nodded. Then, it was only a matter of waiting for a few seconds as more and more energy built up in the veritable bomb.

"Ready…" Streaks appeared around the sphere and Train watched the very centre where sparks seemed to be shooting wildly from. Just a few more seconds…

"Now!" he shouted. Train could see the white wall of air that appeared out of no-where in front of the seven foot wide section of open cage, effectively keeping it covered. Just as the wall went up, a shockwave came, pressing harshly against the shield and everything else in the room. The table got flipped over and the door that lead to some other room banged harshly against its frame, cracks spidering all across the wooden surface.

And _then_ the ball exploded. The sound of the bomb detonating nearly burst everyone's eardrum, but then, everything seemed to shatter. Leon's shield was forced so far back so violently that it slammed the pair outside of the cage into the bars, bending the hard metal. Leon cried out, and the shield died, allowing the rest of the wave to shove Sven and Eve against the stone walls. The explosion blew out the glass in the two windows and cracked support beams, making parts of the mortar holding the ceiling up fall down around them. Floor broke around the chunks of ceiling, denting the entire floor as cracks forced slants of rock to appear. The desk was long gone, ripped apart by the force of the explosion. The door to the prison cell was bent awkwardly, no possible way to open it now.

Energy kept sweeping around the area, brushing up the shirt tails of Train's limp form and blowing the hair around Leon's. Eve was curled into Sven, who was hunched protectively over her head to keep it from getting hit by anything. Moans came from the stairwell, and as soon as the dust had settled and the wind stopped swirling around everywhere, the two Numbers came out from their hiding place. Both completely covered in dust, but neither injured, they picked their way through the broken floor and towards the foursome huddled in and around the cage. Four went to Leon while Eight checked on Train. Sven let go of Eve so that they could both watch him check for Train's pulse. He stood quickly.

"Alive." The sighs of relief were audible from the pair in the cell. Their hearts stopped when Four stood.

"Dead." Leon, dead? The word seemed to rouse Train, who was groaning softly, eyes squeezed shut tight. A sharp kick to the ribs kept him on the ground, and Eight looked around.

"Think we can keep 'em here?" Four asked him. Eight pondered the question.

"Yes. The ceiling won't cave, and he can still fight. We'll be fine." Four nodded, and then started pacing around the room, trying to figure out where all the obstacles were. Eight was busy prying open the wrecked door, succeeding after countless tries. The metal groaned loudly in protest before squealing to a halt. Eight grabbed Train under the arms and dragged him towards the cell, dumping him listlessly in the floor. As soon as the man was gone, and the door forced shut, both sweepers rushed for their fallen friend. With shaking hands, Eve confirmed what Eight said.

"He's alive. I'm not sure about his memory after that, but he'll live." Another examination showed that he hadn't been hurt too bad, and the only injuries he had were the ones he'd had before. Some had been disturbed, so Eve ripped of the large sash around her waist and bound his ribs again.

The pair waited for hours for Train to fully waken, and when he did it was with hazy eyes.

"S'vn? Eve? Wha' happn'd?" His tongue seemed thick and swollen, and it was hard to form words.

"Easy kid. We'll explain later."

"Tearju's?" Eve glanced over at their wall.

"Milk." Eve said deadpan. The flicker they'd gotten used to in his eyes passed again, and understanding seemed to light in his golden eyes.

"Leon?" Eve shook her head sadly, and Train let his fall back to the floor, eyes closed in guilt and pain.

"It's alright, Train." The statement seemed to infuriate Train.

"Alright?" He whispered hoarsely. "Alright? A twelve year old just died because of me. We're stuck in this place and no-one knows we're here. We probably won't be let out, I'm completely busted up, we'll never be able to get out, and all you can say is that we're _alright?"_ The rant was spoken in the form of a whisper, but the fury behind the words was nearly tangible. Eve shrunk into the corner, watching Sven take over.

"Yes, that's all I can say, because I don't want to let either of you think it's ok to give up that easily. Eve and I are still here, and we can still fight. It doesn't matter that you're busted up. We'll carry you all the way out if need be. But I am not about to let you fall into a guilt trap because something bad happened! The kid died doing something honorable. He won't have wanted any of us to feel guilty, so dang it Train, you aren't going to!" Train was grateful that the Numbers had left before this. They would have loved it if they had seen it.

The younger sweeper stared at his older companion and offered a half-hearted shrug.

"Whatever, Sven."

They didn't speak for the rest of the night.

**A/N. woot! Longest chapter I've written for you guys!**

**Op, I rememped what the condition was…**

**You need to review! Reviews push me to write faster for you guys! Let me know how it turned out. Oh, and just so you know, I very nearly stopped the chappie when Leon came in. I guess since I spared you from a cliffie this time, I'll have to give you a massive one next time around! Hoping to see all of you then! **

**Thx-**

**TOAS**


	11. Losing

**A/N. No, I haven't vanished off the face of the earth, been kidnapped, died, abandoned this story ect. I've just started school again, and for those who would like to know, in the first two weeks, I've had: three papers to write, six tests to take, four games, practice every day and play tryouts. I also jammed most of the fingers on my dominant hand and have therefore not been able to type well. Forgive me for not updating!**

**No seriously, I'm sorry I haven't managed to finish this story yet! I've got the outline and everything I just haven't...written anything…yet! I'm still gonna finish this and don't doubt it! It just might take a while. *Suddenly remembers what this chapter is about and begins to slink away***

**After ages of being silent, you guys are gonna hate me for this chapter…No flames, PLEASE! *Goes behind flame proof glass* Well, here goes! (Disclaimer in previous chapters.)**

Train fell into an uneasy sleep that never lasted more than a few minutes. Some small thing would keep waking him up; an itching in his throat or rolling too quickly onto his battered ribs. Every time he did, he would look out onto the destroyed room and sigh in despair. It wasn't everyday that someone died because of him. (Although it sure felt like it.) He was currently sitting propped against a wall, one arm wrapped around his abused middle, the other trapped against his body by Eve's slumbering form. Sven was a few yards away, twirling his miraculously still-intact hat between his restless fingers. Heavy lidded golden eyes swept lazily across the demolished room outside of their cell. Large cracks littered the floor, sometimes accompanied by chunks of stone slanting upwards, which gave the room a labyrinthine feeling. The actual door to the cell was so warped Train was surprised that the two Numbers had managed to force him through the opening.

If they'd snuck a Tao user in, they could probably figure something out. Train had read in a paper somewhere about a young boy -who was apparently very short- who could fix anything by simply clapping his hands together and placing them to the broken object.

But he was getting sidetracked. No boy was about to race in, clap his hands together, fix the horrible wrenched metal door and save them from this mess. Train was kidding himself. As soon as he started chuckling, Sven whipped his head to look at him. The brown-haired sweeper looked on the verge of hysteria. Sven edged towards his partner warily.

"Train, you feeling alright?" He asked, relieved that when gold eyes finally met his, they were free of any insanity, merely filled with despair and jadedness. He snorted in his mind at the incredulity of the statement before listening to Train's response.

"Yeah Sven. I'm fine. Just thinking of something else." At the sound of his scratchy voice, Train flinched and lifted the hand previously resting on his stomach to rub against his raw throat. Seeing the action, Sven grabbed the now-half-empty bucket of water and pulled it over towards Train. The sweeper looked thankfully at his partner before dunking one bandage-covered palm into the cool water so that he could use the soaked bandages to soothe his throat. Once that was done, the two partners settled to wait for the next horror the world was going to throw at them.

They didn't have to wait long.

Clanging sounds echoed from the stairwell and both men turned to look with wary eyes. Out came Four and Eight, the latter of which was fiddling with something in his hand. The confusing thing for the two captives was that there wasn't a third person for Train to fight. The brown haired sweeper cocked his head as he gently shook Eve awake. Blonde hair swished in front of her magenta eyes as she blinked hazily up at Train.

"Wha-?" She asked, but was silenced by a look from Train. Immediately going into a defensive mode, she surged away from Train. The movement jostled him and he barely managed to suppress a whimper of pain. Eight stalked over and wrenched open the door, fighting with the bent metal for a few minutes before it gave. Train grabbed Sven's shoulder and heaved himself up on his feet. Eight stared at the Number with raised eyebrows before grabbing Eve's shoulder and pulling her towards the entrance.

"Hey!" Train roared, lunging forward and out of the cell to catch up with the two. Sven had followed, but the door was slammed in his face. The older sweeper took a few steps back before leaning forward and pressing his face as close to the bars as he could without getting cut by the warped metal. Eight dragged Eve to the middle of the wreckage strewn floor and four had managed to get a firm grip on Train's collar, effectively stopping him from lunging forward and thereby straining his neck.

"Now then," Eight started, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a metallic plate the size of a playing card, "I've always wondered what would happened if we put a bio-weapon against a Number. And then I stumbled along you two and my problem was solved. I could just have the little beauty here," At this, he tightened his grip on Eve's arm and shoved her forward a few steps, "fight the little beast over there and see who comes out on top." Train's breath hitched as he realized what was going to happen.

"That isn't happening. I'm not going to." He strained backwards from the hand grasping his collar like a horse shying away from the starting gate. Four jerked him forward sharply, prodding Train with his dagger. The sweeper hissed softly as the pointed metal dug into his inflamed midsection. Eve watched the scene play out with eerie calm before turning to stare Eight in the eye.

"If you're doing this from a purely scientific perspective, you have too many variables to have a correct outcome." Eight stared at the girl, ignoring Train's faint snickers in the background and the smile peeking from Sven's mouth.

"What?" Eve shrugged as much as she could and turned to eye the battleground.

"The terrain is unsatisfactory, I cannot fight to my full abilities, Train is severely wounded and neither of us have the incentive to battle the other. As I said, your experiment is flawed through and through." At this, Train laughed out right.

"Princess," he gasped, talking past the burning sensation in his throat, "did you just successfully use sarcasm for the first time?"

Eve glared at him.

Eight stared at Eve, the card still flipping idly from one finger to the next.

"No incentive, eh? I think I can change that." Train watched as he slapped the metal plate in between her shoulder blades and stepped away quickly. Bright white light filled the room, taking on the form of sparking electricity as it crackled around the small girl. Train took an involuntary step back, noticing for the first time that a fist wasn't holding him back. Four had vanished from his sight, leaving him to watch as Eve quickly changed from pleasant-enough girl to deadly weapon. Sven shouted in fear for both partners before the electricity halted and everything fell silent.

Eve was still glowing from within, casting her features into shadow and giving her an ethereal aura. Train was hunched in on himself, only just then having realized that the lightning had stopped and he was momentarily safe. Eve looked up as much as Train could tell and knives sprouted where her arms had been. Wicked white wings with razor sharp edges sprouted from her back and she took on a defensive position.

"…Eve?" Train asked hesitantly. Hades clacked as he stepped forward and Eve's head shot up, fire in her eyes.

No warning forewarned the attack.

No signal of any kind signaled the breaking of a friendship.

Not one word was passed as the shattering began.

Eve had apparently forgotten everything she knew as soon as the card hit her skin. She had once again become the killing machine Toreno designed her to be. Train backpedaled as soon as Eve lunged for him, trying to keep from directly attacking the girl. Eve kept coming at him, knives flashing dangerously in the artificial light. One paper-thin weapon slit open a six inch gash along his right forearm, blood immediately spilling from the wound. He gasped as the already abused flesh was injured even more.

Eve leapt again and Train pulled Hades to block the blow. Once the weapon was drawn, Eve howled in rage and her wings swept forward to cut at the stumbling sweeper. Sven shouted uselessly at Eve, trying to get her to calm down. But the girl was already trapped in the hold of the metal plate and she was going all out. Turning one had back to its usual appendage, she tried to stretch out and wrench Train to the ground. The shaggy haired sweeper dodged nimbly and shot behind a particularly large bit of wreckage. Taking the moment to breathe, he leaned his head against the broken stone chunk and glanced over himself.

"Blood…I smell blood on your hands." Train froze, eyes already locked on his lower arms. Oh look…blood. He wiped the red liquid onto the tattered remains of his jacket and tried to shake the disconcerting feeling that came with the words. Eve hadn't spoken like that for years-since the night he saved her in the woods. He shuddered, only to turn the movement into a full body roll when the stone behind him cracked and began to splinter away.

Leaping on top of another, he saw Eve's hand, transformed into a massive hammer, sticking out of the rock.

"Eve!" The call did nothing to lessen the violence coming from the little blonde girl. In fact, it seemed to heighten it, leading her to surge forward, hammer morphing into a ridiculously large sword-razor sharp and double edged. Train yelped in surprise and turned to the side in a desperate attempt to evade the weapon. The blade sliced right through the lower half of his jacket, sending the blue cloth fluttering to the ground. Train stared at the scrap of clothing, recognizing how it symbolized his near brush with death and for the first time in his life, he was scared of it.

He'd been around death his whole life and had come to terms with the thought of his leaving this world by the hands of another. But never in his wildest thoughts of most horrifying nightmares had he thought that it would come from the blow of someone who had finally managed to shove past his barriers enough to become a 'friend'. Blonde hair flashed in front of his amber eyes, and he glanced up in time to see Eve whip past him, turning to make another assault while his guard was down.

"Eve…" it wasn't called in surprise this time, nor in a plead to remain alive. Now, it was a broken word whispered by someone who has finally realized the significance of what is happening to him. The constant ethereal light that radiated from Eve seemed to dim a little and something flashed in her eyes.

But then the fire was back, and she lunged forward, the flat edge of her sword-arm slamming forcefully into the side of Train's head. He crumpled immediately, golden eyes flickering closed with a soft frown of confusion marring his features.

As soon as her partner hit the ground, Eve seemed to freeze. Her arm remained raised above the fallen sweeper and the knife-edged wings sprouting from her back remained flared out, giving her the look of an angel of death. Soft footsteps drew both hers and Sven's attentions toward the two Numbers staring awestruck at the girl.

"You just…" He didn't finish the words, for at the moment he spoke Eve had lunged again, fury in her face and death in her eyes.

"You monsters! You evil beast! You do not deserve to live!" She howled, fire flashing across her expression. Four just managed to whip out his golden knife in time to block the deadly arc of her sword, all the while screaming at Eight.

"Grab the remote!" A few seconds of desperate battle followed between the Number and the bio-weapon before Eight pulled out a small remote and pointed it at Eve. She dropped with a scream, clutching at her neck and immediately retracting her sword and wings. Eight kept his finger on the button until Four had recovered and dragged Eve back into the cell, throwing her next to Sven. The shouts of both sweepers died down a little as the button was released and they turned to clamoring for Train's return.

"Bring him back!" Eight stared at the two horror-stricken partners and for a moment considered letting them sweat the trouble out. But then he remembered how clever the Black Cat was and decided it was safer to keep him behind bars.

"Fine." He stalked over to the unconscious former assassin, snagged the collar of his shirt in a death grip, and then hauled his limp for over to the prison. Four kept the warped door open wide enough to allow his partner to shove Train inside before slamming it shut with a clang and a laugh.

"See you soon!" That was perhaps the most foreboding thing they had ever heard from the man but then he was gone, and they were left along in the half light of some broken lights and the fading sun.

A few moments of silence passed before Train groaned and twisted around from his awkward position on the floor. Both of his partners had been too shocked to move him at all, and it was only until he showed signs of waking that they moved. Sven gently turned Train onto his back and called his name.

"Train, wake up. Come on, Train open your eyes!" eve remained silent, frustrated tears falling from her eyes as she reached behind her back and ripped the metal card away. The lights were no longer blinking on it and it looked burned out on the whole. She stared at the cursed card for a few moments before throwing it as far from her as she could and turning back to Train. His eye lids peeled back to reveal dazed golden irises with a pained expression.

"Wha-…how'd I get on the floor? Don't remember falling…" He tried to sit up, but then Eve came into his sights and reached over to help him.

For the first time in his life, Train flinched away from Eve.

**A/N. Whoa, sorry if that was really crappy but I've been gone from writing for a month-homework never gives you the chance to keep up your skills. Hopefully from now on I shall be able to update more frequently. No more month long gaps, I promise! Gimme a week or two between chapters before nagging me (by then I will have deserved it). **

**Oh, and if anyone can guess the reference I was making about the boy who could clap his hands and fix stuff get a virtual cookie! But seriously, I'd love for you guys to guess…it lets me know that you read the unimportant A/Ns…**

**Thx! **

**-Shadow**


	12. Ending

_A/N. *pokes head out from behind very large wall and immediately ducks back* Alright, you guys should be angry *ducks more flaming/pointy flying objects* And I deserve that. *ducks* and that. *ducks again* alright, you can stop now. I hate to break the news to you, but this chapter is the last, and it has a really crappy ending at that. I just don't have the spark to keep writing Black Cat right now, having moved to Fullmetal and Naruto. I think I might be coming back a bit, so keep a watch out for a revised ending, but for now, I hope you won't hate me for this ending. Congragulations on all of you guys getting who the boy was in the last chapter. Who doesn't love Ed?_

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Black Cat. I don't really remember who does, but then again, I may never have known._

Train pressed himself back against the stone wall and ducked his head doggedly. Maybe it wasn't that easy with the weight of hurting one of your closest friends, but Train still couldn't help but remember what it felt like when she'd punched him. Amber eyes wouldn't meet pink and Sven was left between the two.

"It'll be alright, you two." He said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. Eve smiled weakly at him while Train flinched even further in on himself and looked away from both sweepers. Eve bowed her head ashamedly, looking from one wound to the next, from one scar to another, realizing just how broken he looked then. Sven switched looking between Eve and looking between Train, both of his partners looking so lost. Train ducked is head in such an un-Train like position that with all of the injuries and dirt covering him that Sven had a hard time believing he really was Train. The brown haired sweeper didn't life his head for the rest of the night, leavingSven and Eve to keep each other company.

Suffice to say that the rest of the night was spent in silence.

Morning came and went with only a single guard coming down to replenish their stale bread and blessedly clean water. Sven tried to get Train to eat some food, but the younger sweeper hadn't even acknowledged at Sven. Eve and Sven exchanged worried glances, but Sven knew better than to push his partner and Eve wasn't going to risk the thin bond she still had with him. Train remained slumped over himself the rest of the day, and was only mildly surprised that he was allowed to remain past noon. Sven and Eve looked oddly tensed near the door, but then the blonde bio-weapon glanced over at him and he immediately twisted away.

The temperature dropped drastically in the room as night approached, and Train began shivering sharply. Eve tried to sidle over and hand him the remains of Sven's jacket, but he just shied away, very stray-cat esque. She frowned darkly and gave a hopeless little look to Sven before retreating back to the older man and leaving Train on his own.

More time passed, going from the freezing night to the slightly warmer atmosphere of daytime. Eve would continually attempt to talk with Train, but the other sweeper remained distant and skitterish. Just as she was about to try again, footsteps rang out across the mutilated stone steps and even Train was interested enough to lift his head warily. Too much of him hurt-physically and beyond- for him to try anything else. Four lead the way down the steps, closely followed by Eight and a cloaked man. Topaz eyes lighted on the frayed edges of this mystery man's cloak and Train tilted his head slightly, only slightly, and tried to focus his attention on the man.

But it was getting so _hard_ to hold a lucid thought that the sweeper just kept staring without really seeing.

Sven and Eve once again took up position in front of their discombobulated partner, but even with the obvious warning, Four and Eight sauntered forward. The cloaked man followed behind.

"Time for one last go round Thirteen. If you can make it, then good for you, you can leave. If not…" What would happen if Train lost today didn't need to be spoken. Train shrugged indifferently and dropped his head a little. He heard the third man step forward instead of actually seeing the movement, but the words that followed had him showing more life that he had for the past two days.

"I'd have thought you were smart enough not to get caught, Heartnet. Didn't I train you better than that?" The sweeper flinched violently, eyes wide as he lifted his head higher than his shoulders and stared at the long, limp sandy hair and gruff face of his old mentor-_no, not him, anyone but him, please God quit punishing him, anyone but-_

"Zagine?"

The man smiled, awarded his former pupil a small clap and stepped forward.

"It's good to see you haven't forgotten me over the years, Thirteen. But I heard you quit?" The statement was posed as a question and again, Train shrugged indifferently.

"That's the word on the street these days. But when I last saw you, I was sure as heck that you were gonna become part of it." Zagine chuckled amiably and began his story.

"I was. But Chronos had had their eye on me for a while, so when they 'found' me bleeding out on the street, they decided it would be a good idea to keep me around for a while. I was transferred here a few weeks ago as soon as they concocted up this crap plan on kidnapping you. I just never figured on them actually pulling it off." Train offered a slightly regretful smirk.

"Sorry to disappoint and all but… do we have to fight?" This question was more directed to the remaining numbers that had remained silent throughout the whole exchange.

"You don't really have a choice in the matter. Get up." Train ignored Eight, granted Zagine one last look and dropped his head back to his knees. The other two sweepers, who had also remained silent, stood swiftly in a last ditch effort to keep their strained companion safe. Eight frowned and stormed forward, wrenching the mutilated metal door away from the frame and pushing past the two sweepers with ease. Four waltzed in behind and kept them from pressing forward by wagging the remote to Train's bracelet in front of them.

"Ah ah ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you. Because if my hand were to slip…" he lightly jabbed his thumb onto the button and Train's body jerked sideways as if of his own accord. The younger man hadn't even cried out before the torture stopped and Eight bent down to roughly grab his arm and yank him to his feet. Train followed wordlessly, to all the world dead on his feet. Eight shoved him towards Zagine and attempted to slam the door behind him. The metal clanged off of the ill-fitting frame and remained slightly ajar.

Train stumbled forward due to Eights shove, but he regained his feet before slamming into his mentor. The brown head cocked slightly and Train had the gall to lean forward a bit and poke his former mentor none to gently in the chest. He frowned when he was met with a solid resistance and lifted his head to look Zagine in the eye.

"Are you sure you're not some hallucination because of some infection or concussion?" he asked. Zagine smirked and gave Train a quick slug across the face that had him stumbling backwards.

"That answer your question, Heartnet?" He asked. Train slowly wiped the blood dribbling down his chin with the back of his hand.

"Dang. I was kind of hoping you were." The Numbers interrupted.

"Enough chit-chat. Either you start fighting or one of them dies," Eight said, pulling a small pistol out of his jacket pocket and waving it carelessly towards the cell holding Sven and Eve. At the sight of the gun, Train again cocked his head while shying away a little. He only had three bullets left, counting the one in his gun and the two loose bullets that had been rattling around in his pocket. Zagine was sure to have one, and after pushing Train to the max only a few years ago, he wouldn't be surprised if the older man started shooting. Even being the Black Cat, he would be hard pressed to keep alive with only the bullets and an orichalcum gun against an assassin better than he was. Train slipped his hand into his pocket and fingered the two bullets there. One was a freeze bullet that he'd kept after being turned into a child and the other was a more familiar burst bullet. He grabbed the exploding piece of lead and loaded it with ease into Hades's golden chamber. After a second thought, he slid the freeze bullet in before the ordinary one and snapping the cartridge back in place so that the burst bullet was up first.

"Are you really going to fight me with three bullets, Train? I thought I taught you better than that." Zagine sounded tauntingly disappointed. Train balked viciously, brows furrowing and his head jerking back almost of its own accord.

"What, you get all the credit for training me? Nothing because of my own skill or determination?" Zagine shrugged uninterestedly, flipping a few strands behind his ear as he casually drew his own gun, a stunning black piece of metal that shone dully in the fluorescent light. Silence reigned for a few moments until several of the cool bandages soaking across Train's burns simultaneously dropped to the floor. An immediate pain shot up from all of the red, swollen skin and Train doubled over on himself. Zagine chose that moment to attack, rushing forward and slamming the butt of his gun into the joint between Train's neck and his collarbone. He dropped to the floor and when his head hit the unyielding concrete the world spun dizzyingly and the black spots in his vision merged with the black in Zagine's cloak.

Train lifted Hades shakily, his shoulder stinging and the gun feeling like lead so that he knew he'd never hit Zagine right in the heart. Sven shouted something about 'moving his hand higher, because dang it, the only thing he would hit now was the man's leg.' He followed his partner's advice wordlessly and lifted the gun a bit more.

_Bang!_

The shot echoed around the room, and then again.

_Bang! Bang! Bam!_

The bullet hit Zagine right on the shoulder and then ricocheted around his gun and blew into the barrel just as Zagine had pulled the trigger. Only quick reflexes managed to get the weapon away from the assassin before it combusted and it was by chance that it landed near Train.

"Train, _move!_" Sven shouted and the sweeper in question attempted to scramble away as fast as he could on his back. But the gun exploded in mid air and even with the skill train had he couldn't get away.

The gun exploded almost literally in his face.

Train screamed out as shrapnel rained down around him, quickly ducking his head and rolling to the side as fast as he could. White hot metal clawed and tore at his arms and back before he got fully out of range. When he looked over, Zagine was flat on his back, breathing painfully. Train looked a little closer and could have sword he saw a particularly jagged shard of shrapnel poking out of his chest, but the lighting was bad, and Zagine just didn't get hurt that stupidly. Train panted heavily, attempting to get back on his feet despite the horrific ringing in his ears and the way he couldn't quite get his limbs to work correctly. He floundered for a few moments, flipped over several times and then pushed himself up with a wall.

"_No! This wasn't supposed to happen!_" someone shrieked manically, and Train lifted his head just in time to receive a flying blow to the face. He flew backwards and collided with the wall. Black filled his vision and he dropped back onto his hands and knees while trying to figure out who had smashed his face in. Black shoes slipped in front of his vision, but everyone in the room was wearing black shoes. It was the way he stepped that let Train know which Number it was. Yes, they seemed confident enough, but he took a little too much time in between each step, as if wondering where he should place his foot.

Four. Train lifted his head warily and stood on shaking feet to face the assassin. Four was livid.

_"THAt SHoulD haVe bEen YOur LAsT fiGht! YoU were sUPPosEd to DIe tHen!"_ The shouting dropped in and out of focus as the ringing continued in Train's ears and he did the only thing he had left to do then; what with the threatening way Four was stalking towards him and the golden blade that hummed with electricity in his hand.

Train went of the offensive.

He lunged clumsily forward and slammed his shoulder into Four's sternum sending the other man stumbling backwards while he received a vicious slash wound across the chest. He stumbled, and then twisted around and attempted to lift Hades with both hands. The gun shook minutely as he took aim as well as he could and pulled the trigger as soon as he thought he had the shot. The freeze bullet flew out of the chamber and swerved a little before burying itself in Four's fingers. The Number screamed loudly and tried to drop his knife. The ice was faster though, and had already crawled up the rest of his fingers and begun to spiral up his knife.

Four shrieked as the ice began to inch the opposite was down his arm and up his shoulder and he clawed madly at the freezing substance. He blundered drunkenly around, shouting and panicking as Eight calmly and collectedly strode forward and pulled out his own weapon of choice. The shiny black orb glinted just as Four's helmet had and Train slid open the cartridge of his gun and fingered the only bullet left. A normal, ordinary bullet was all that he had left. No tricks. No left over exploding cat grenades.

Nothing.

He spun the cartridge around a few times in a clichéd move he'd seen before snapping it closed and took aim in time for his wrist to become shattered from the black ball that smashed into it. _That_ hurt.

It was Train's turn to scream horrifically while the bones in his wrist cracked and split all the way up to his elbow. Hades dropped from his hand as he dropped awkwardly to the ground, the metal contraption making his landing difficult. Sven and Eve were shouting from some far away tunnel, but Train was focused on how much it _hurt_. He was tempted to curl around the shattered appendage but fear of what would happen afterwards to himself and his companions had him stretching his body up and weakly grasping Hades with his left hand. The handling was awkward at best, with the metal glove screwing his aim and forcing himself to change his normal shooting style. The two metals clacked together with a sound worse than nails scraping across a chalkboard. Probably worse than _Rinslet's_ nails on a chalkboard.

Train cradled his destroyed right arm to himself and ducked one, two different swipes from Eight's weapon before dancing away and trying to find the shot he was looking for. The Number swung again, and again, and again. Still, there wasn't an opening and Eight kept pressing forward. The gilded orb missed Train's head by an inch, and the Eight pulled back the handle with both hands…

Quick as a viper, Train lined up a shot as best he could and pulled the trigger before he could mess up the shot.

_Bam!_

_Sclurch!_

Eight screamed harshly, immediately pulling his hands back down to his chest and drawing his bloody wrists back to himself. The bullet had gone straight through his left wrist and out of his right wrist, severing the tendons so that it made it an agony to move either hand. Eight dropped to the floor, and Train knew he wouldn't bother them anymore.

Four, however, was another matter entirely. He lunged forward and tried to club Train over the head with his now rock-hard arm and frozen dagger. The brown haired sweeper dropped forward and rolled, sweeping his legs out behind him to send the Number crashing to the ground. Four hit his head on one of the jagged boulders. A large dent appeared in his helmet, far larger that it should have been. Four didn't move again, but with his helmet still on Train couldn't be sure. He danced around the limp body and shoved Eight to the ground so that it would be almost impossible to get up again before turning and stepping over Zagine's unconscious form to pull open the door to the cell. _They were finally free!_

But suddenly a hand wrapped around his ankle and his surprise at the act didn't leave him enough time to react and he fell to the floor. His right hand seemed to lift of its own accord to help his left brace his body. He wasn't prepared in any way shape or form for the sheer agony that came with the motion.

It was as if the two jagged shards of bone were grating against each other and tearing into his muscle as he tried to brace himself. The scream in and of itself should have forced Sven and Eve into motion, but it was more the look of loss and pain that had them running towards their friend. Eve, trying to prove herself worthy of Train's trust again, barreled through the off kilter gate so that she could leap at Zagine. The small blonde pummeled the assassin violently while Sven pulled Train much more gently from the fight. Train tried desperately to stand on his own and once he was on somewhat steady feet Sven went forward to grab Eve as well.

"_Easy Eve, easy! He doesn't need to die!"_

"_Yes he does! He hurt Train!"_

Train himself watched from a distance as his partner finally managed to pull the riled teen away from his ex-mentor. Swaying on his feet, he waved with his elft hand to get Sven's attention.

"We need to leave now." The green haired man eyed the metal contraption on his wrist with unease and uncertainty.

"What about that?" he asked, pointing. Train shrugged.

"We can stop by Tearju's and she'll fix me and Eve up." Both men turned to look at the collar on the girl's neck before returning to the conversation.

"Do you think we can make it?"

A sudden premonition came to Train- grass and trees and a mansion behind them. A gunshot "_Eve, move!"_ And then blackness…

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Sven accepted this answer from Train and then turned to look at both of his partners.

"I would be the best suited to help Train along, but I would also be the one who was most up for a fight if it came to that. So Eve, you help Train along and I'll go ahead. You head anything, you find a place and hide, alright?" They both nodded, Train a little more sullenly that Eve before they set off. Sven managed to find the small pistol Eight had dropped before they scaled the stairs and wound their way out of the dungeons. From there, the younger two of the trio would wait as Sven crept ahead and determined whether or not the path was clear of not.

They went through three different passages of this before Sven suddenly hissed back at them to hide and Eve herded Train into a side room. She peered out of the key hole and saw several dozen men running for the dungeons.

"Eight must have managed to get to an alarm system then." Train whispered. They waited for Sven's signal before sneaking back out and running for the elder sweeper. They had to stop four more times before they reached the front doors in complete solitude. Sven was the one to shove the heavy oaken doors open and they all filed out, silent as thieves in the night.

They were halfway across the dark yard before tragedy struck.

"_There they are! Get them! Get them NOW!"_

Train twisted to see Eight on the balcony above them, trying to turn a spotlight on them with his injured arms. There was a black shadow somewhere around there and…

A glint of metal.

"_Shoot now!"_

They were aiming for Train. And no one but Train was that good of a shot from that far away.

"_Eve move!" _

Train shoved the blonde girl away from himself and towards Sven, knocking the both of them to the ground. Then, he turned to face the sniper head on just as-

_Bam!_

_Bam! _

_Bam!_

God, it hurt so bad, like fire lighting on his torso.

A girl was screaming hysterically and a man was shouting about something, and a far away voice was sheering manically…

But then it stopped hurting so bad, and the being known as Train Heartnet really couldn't care less anymore.

_A/N. it's done. Good and done. I'm going to post it tonight with out editing so that you all can read it, but this weekend I'll get around to editing. If you feel like re-reading it, by all means, go ahead. Please review!_

_-Shadow_


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